Green Heron
Description: Crow sized heron with overall chestnut body and lighter underparts. Wings and cap are dark greenish colored and the legs are pink. Gives out a harsh squawk when disturbed and in flight.
Nest: Platform nest of sticks and twigs placed in a shrub or tree. The nest is usually located near or above water.
Eggs: 3 - 5 pale green eggs.
Diet: Green herons mostly feed on small fish such as minnows but regularly take frogs, tadpoles, aquatic insects and their larvae. These birds have an interesting habit of placing small pieces of debris or feathers on the water's surface to attract fish into range. Prey is captured with a quick strike of their daggerlike bill. Hunting is usually done from a concealed spot on the shore or on a stump or branch above the water.
Habitat: Quiet ponds, marshes, beaver wetlands, cattail swamps and streams. They seem to prefer slow moving water often forage in small weedy swamps with dense emergent vegetation. These birds land in trees more often than the larger and more conspicuous Great Blue Heron but usually go unnoticed in dense cover along the pond's edge.
Nest: Platform nest of sticks and twigs placed in a shrub or tree. The nest is usually located near or above water.
Eggs: 3 - 5 pale green eggs.
Diet: Green herons mostly feed on small fish such as minnows but regularly take frogs, tadpoles, aquatic insects and their larvae. These birds have an interesting habit of placing small pieces of debris or feathers on the water's surface to attract fish into range. Prey is captured with a quick strike of their daggerlike bill. Hunting is usually done from a concealed spot on the shore or on a stump or branch above the water.
Habitat: Quiet ponds, marshes, beaver wetlands, cattail swamps and streams. They seem to prefer slow moving water often forage in small weedy swamps with dense emergent vegetation. These birds land in trees more often than the larger and more conspicuous Great Blue Heron but usually go unnoticed in dense cover along the pond's edge.