Things you need to know about GREY HERONS! скачать в хорошем качестве

Things you need to know about GREY HERONS!

Standing at up to a metre tall and with a wingspan of between 155 and 195 centimetres, the grey heron is almost unmistakable. Adults have an orangey yellow, dagger shaped beak, a dark eye stripe which contrasts with their almost white head and neck, grey wings with dark outer edges and a small crest of feathers protruding from the back of their heads. They also have long spindly legs and hold these and their heads and necks close into their bodies during flight. For the most part, males and females look the same although the crest of feathers, which are known as Aigrets are slightly longer in breeding condition males. Grey herons are mostly a waterside bird, found at all inland waterways, along the coast and much to the annoyance of koi and goldfish keepers, theyll frequently attempt to visit garden ponds. With this wetland preference, a lot of their diet is made up of fish and amphibians but they will also hunt away from the water and take small mammals, birds and insects. They catch their larger prey by surprise, stalking it, impaling it and then swallowing it whole. When it comes to nesting, grey herons will often choose to nest communally in what is known as a heronry. This will usually be in clusters of large trees on islands or close to water and they will sometimes share their nesting areas with other fish eating birds such as great cormorants, spoonbills and egrets. From the age of two years onwards, each adult heron will attempt to find a mate from early spring onwards and once they are successful will begin the construction of a large twig platform nest. Once the nest is complete, each pair will produce between 3 and 5 greeney blue eggs at 2 day intervals. These measure 6cm in length and are incubated by both parents for 27 days from when the first or second is laid. This means that the chick hatch at intervals too and their can be a noticeable size difference between them. Both parents bring food back to the chicks in the nest and they grow rapidly, fledging at 50-55 days old. At this point the young are duller and scruffier looking versions of their parents and are still cared for away from the nest for a further 2 to 4 weeks until they are able to fend for themselves. Each pair will only nest once per year and after nesting they remain mostly solitary, only searching out a new mate the following spring. There are currently an estimated 13,000 grey heron nests in the UK and 63,000 birds overwintering here. They are also found across most of Europe, Russia, northern Asia parts of Australasia and south Africa. They have a close and similar looking relative in the Americas called a great blue heron. Grey herons in the UK dont migrate and at some point outside of the breeding season they can be seen stood along a waterway or in a field all facing the same direction, and no one really know why they do this although it is thought it might be just for social interaction. They have an average lifespan of around five years but the oldest wild bird on record made it to 23 years of age. #uknature #nature #ukwildlife Some of the footage used in this video was obtained using creative common licences. The originals can be found at:    • アオサギ 早朝のコロニー Grey heron 信越の河原 3月下旬 野鳥...      • Grey heron family アオサギ 家族 信越の河原 5月下旬 ...      • アオサギ 巣作り Grey heron Nest-building 信越の...      • アオサギ 大物ゲットはたかられる Grey heron catch and...      • Grey Herons in the nest      • Grey heron catching fish in Copenhage...      • Grey Heron Fishing in Slow Motion      • Grey Heron's at winter roost.      • Herons mating Feb 2017      • Lonely Grey Heron Aiming Fish 🎣      • GREY HERON СЕРАЯ ЦАПЛЯ      • アオサギ 抱卵中 Grey heron brooding period 信...      • Gray Heron Call. Gråhäger läte. Graur...      • Short Clip: Great Blue Heron at Union...   Some of the images are also creative commons- Heron nest image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Thumbnail image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...