Great Blue Heron

This is one of my favorite native Florida birds. When I was little I used to call it the Grandpa bird, and to this day I do not know why I started doing that. Maybe I thought they looked old compared to the snowy egrets I always saw them wading near. Regardless, the name "grandpa bird" stuck with me until middle school, when I learned it was actually called a Great Blue Heron.   

Fun Facts:

• They are the largest North American Heron.
• They are wading birds and use their beaks to spear their pray.
• They can be found on shorelines and in wetlands (or pretty much anywhere there is freshwater in the state of Florida).
• They are also found in states more northern than FL, the Caribbean and parts of Central America.
• Their diet consists of small fish, insects, crabs, amphibians, rodents, reptiles, and other small birds.
• They swallow their prey whole and are known to choke on their food.
• Solitary feeders
• Breed in colonies next to lakes or other wetlands
• Build bulky stick nests and lay 3-6 eggs at a time that usually take 28 days to hatch

Gotta love the Great Blue Heron!!