Top end of Bathurst Street - south of Lake Simcoe

                                                                           Photos by BarrytheBirder

Great Blue Heron

Ardea herodias

 

The Great Blue Heron ranges from Alaska, Quebec and Nova Scotia, south to Mexico and the West Indies.   According to my Audubon Field Guide, it also breeds in the Galapagos Islands.  Its voice is a distinctive hoarse, guttural squawk.   My Audubon also says the Great Blue  migrates south in the fall, but a few remain in the north during the winter; such birds often fall victim to severe weather.   All-white morph found in southern Florida formerly considered a separate species, "Great White Heron".   The Great White's pale legs and heavy bill help differentiate it from the Great Egret.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder