Great Blue Herons Renovating & Building Nests
Great Blue Herons are colonial nesters – up to 500 platform nests or more may be built in dead snags and trees bordering or in swamps, ponds and woodlands. Where trees are not available, they will nest on the ground (this usually occurs only on predator-free islands).
The nests of Great Blue Herons are built of sticks, usually gathered by the males from nearby trees and shrubs as well as the ground. The male heron flies with a stick in his bill back to the nest (see photo) where the female awaits and presents her with the stick. She takes it from his beak, pokes it into the nest and eventually lines the nest with pine needles, moss, reeds, grasses and small twigs. Although nest building and repair is at its height right now, nesting material is added throughout the nesting period.
Nests are often re-used for many years, but not necessarily by the same pair of herons. While nest fidelity is not strong, Great Blue Herons do tend to show a preference for the species of tree in a colony in which they build their nest. Nesting colonies can be used for just a few years, or for as many as 70.
Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.
Parental Feeding Techniques of the Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Herons are colonial nesters – a rookery can have hundreds (up to 500) of nests, usually in dead snags, with one, two or three nests in a single snag. Because the chicks are in the nest for roughly two months before fledging, their interactions with both parents, especially when food is delivered to the nest, has been observed and well documented.
Newly hatched chicks peck at the adult’s bill, the nest and each other. Initially the adult returns to the nest where it stands on the rim and regurgitates food into the open bills of the chicks. The chicks get quite proficient at grabbing the adult’s bill and pulling it into the nest as soon as the parent returns. As the chicks age, the adult often regurgitates onto the floor of the nest and the chicks eat it. When the nestlings are about a month old, they take food directly from their parents.
Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.
Naturally Curious with Mary Holland 
What Other Naturally Curious People Are Saying