Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Bird Watching - Grey Heron

Grey Heron



Grey herons are tall, with long legs, grey, black and white feathering. long S-shaped neck, narrow head and pointed dagger bill. legs are brown. Adult has white crown, black eyebrows, and black shoulder patch. Like other herons and egrets, flies with neck pulled in to form a bulge.

Local Names : Nari, Anjan, Sain (Hindi)
                     Narai, Sambal narai (Tamil)
                     Charamunti (Malayalam)


They can stand with their neck stretched out, looking for food, or hunched down with their neck bent over their chest.



Generally quite common and conspicuous in wetland habitats from marshes and tidal flats to small ponds, ditches, and wet fields; nests colonially in tall trees. Mainly seen as singles or in small groups, standing quietly in or at the edge of water, less often hunting in fields.  Grey herons can be seen at any time of year. our grey herons do not migrate.



The Grey heron feeds mostly on fish, but depending on the season and what is available, it also may eat amphibians, crustaceans, aquatic invertebrates, mollusks, snakes, small birds. After harvesting, grey herons can sometimes be seen in fields, looking for rodents.



The birds breed colonially in spring in "heronries", usually building their nests high in trees. A clutch of usually three to five bluish-green eggs is laid. Both birds incubate the eggs for around 25 days, and then both feed the chicks, which fledge when 7-8 weeks old.

References
The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali)
Wikipedia

Pictures:
Pallikaranai Wetlands ( January 2020)

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Pallikaranai wetland is situated adjacent to the Bay of Bengal in the city of Chennai. The Pallikaranai marshland is a freshwater marsh and one of the last remaining natural wetlands of South India. The marsh contains several rare or endangered and threatened species and acts as a forage and breeding ground for thousands of migratory birds from various places within and outside the country.

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