BirdNote®
Regal Great Blue Heron
Written by Frances Wood
This is BirdNote! [“Kronk-kronk” sound of Great Blue Heron]
Does this sound conjure up visions of an ancient pterodactyl? [Repeat kronking call]
It may, but this sound comes from a present-day creature, the Great Blue Heron. With long neck and legs, this blue-gray, crane-like bird is a familiar sight, standing sentinel on docks, hunkered in a field, or wading in shallow water.
When feeding, the Great Blue Heron stands motionless in knee-deep water, watching for fish, its serpentine neck recoiled. Then, in a surge of power, the bird jabs its sharp bill into the water to spear a fish. If successful, the heron shuffles the fish into its beak and swallows it whole.
Generally a quiet creature, only if the Great Blue Heron is disturbed and must fly off to safer waters, will it utter this pterodactyl-sounding call. [“Kronk-kronk” call fading away]
Some Native American traditions hold that herons contain the souls of wise men who have returned to earth on mysterious pilgrimages. If true, these wise souls made a good choice: a magnificent bird with a quiet, reflective spirit, capable of waiting, watching, and seeing below the surface.
For BirdNote, I'm Mary McCann.
Support comes from Sasquatch Books, announcing Pacific Flyway: Waterbird Migration from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego, a blend of photography, science writing, and storytelling.
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Call of the Great Blue Heron provided by: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Sound recordist: C.A. Sutherland, and with permission from the Peterson CD A Field Guide to Western Bird Songs.
Ambient track from Kessler Productions
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org Revised for Feb. 2017. 2020
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