Grey Heron ( Ardea cinerea, family: Ardeidae)
The Grey Heron (Latin name Ardea cinerea) is described in Roberts Birds
of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number
of 62 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 587 also
a picture of the Grey Heron on page 592. The Grey Heron belongs to the
family of birds classified as Ardeidae.
The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps
The Grey Heron is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident
In terms of distribution of the Grey Heron in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Grey Heron : see above distribution map.
The Grey Heron.
Identification assistance for this avian species ...
One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Grey Heron is a large bird much bigger than a Pied Crow. The height of the Grey Heron is about 98 cms and its weight is about 1020 gms
The male and female Grey Heron have the same plumage and colours
- Head is white, black.
- Eye is yellow.
- Bill is grey, white.
- Throat is grey, black.
- Back is brown.
- Legs are grey, white.
This bird has long legs.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Grey Heron feeds in or around water mainly
Aquatic life forms
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Grey Heron takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).
The nesting habit of Grey Heron is to create the nest on the ground. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 3 to 4
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Grey Heron are: wetlands
You can see Grey Heron in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Isikhwalimanzi / Ukhwalimanzi
Zulu ... uNokilonki
Afrikaans ...Bloureier
German ... Graureiher
Portuguese ... Gara-real
French ... Hron cendr
Dutch ... Blauwe Reiger
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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 62
The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za
