Great Blue Heron and American Avocet

The Herons and Avocets page contains images of a Great Blue Heron hunting at Obsidian Creek and
American Avocets taken in breeding plumage at Swan Lake and non-breeding plumage at Trout Lake.

Several images of both birds which were taken at different locations are included to add context.

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Sandhill Cranes Trumpeter Swans Raptors

Great Blue Heron and American Avocet Assorted Birds

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Egrets & Herons Shorebirds

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A Great Blue Heron hunting at Obsidian Creek in Yellowstone National Park.

The largest North American heron, the Great Blue is in my experience a skittish bird that flies the moment it sees you, although those in Southern Florida are far more used to the presence of people. They occupy wetland areas, marshes, swamps and shorelines and are prolific hunters of fish, although they also eat insects, rodents, amphibians and small birds.

Great Blue Herons are blue-gray, with a dark gray to black streak on either side of the crown stripe, which is gray to white. They have a streaked breast and neck and a light gray face, a heavy gray-yellow bill with a straight upper edge, and long dark-gray legs. Mature birds grow long plumes at the base of their neck and on the lower back in the breeding season.

They can be very challenging to shoot anywhere but in Florida, as they fly
the moment they see you. This results in a lot of shots of the rear end of flying
herons... you learn to move in on them very slowly and sometimes you can cultivate
a friendship of sorts with individuals over a period of time to the point where they trust you.
Of course, with a long lens you can stay outside of their large fear radius and get a shot easily,
but to get highly detailed images of wild birds from close range requires stealth and patience.

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A Great Blue Heron with its gullet expanded from swallowing a fish caught at Obsidian Creek in Yellowstone.

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On the left above, the Great Blue Heron spots a fish in Obsidian Creek at Yellowstone.
Above right, a close portrait of the Great Blue Heron in the shallows of Obsidian Creek.

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The Great Blue Heron swallows a fish after a successful strike in Obsidian Creek.

Two images of this Great Blue Heron striking at a fish are shown further below.

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A Great Blue Heron hunting in early October at Obsidian Creek in Yellowstone National Park.

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Egrets & Herons Shorebirds

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A Great Blue Heron spots a fish at Obsidian Creek in Yellowstone National Park.

Great Blue Herons are roughly twice as heavy as Great Egrets, although they are only
slightly taller than the Great Egret. The Great Blue Heron has slate blue flight feathers,
reddish brown thighs, and a rusty-gray neck with black and white streaks on the front.
The bill is a dull gray-yellow, turning orange at the beginning of the breeding season.

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A Great Blue Heron follows a fish in Obsidian Creek in the late morning in October.

The primary food of the Great Blue Heron is small fish, although it feeds opportunistically
on shrimp, crabs, aquatic insects, rodents and other small mammals, amphibians, reptiles,
and occasionally small birds. They locate their food by sight and usually swallow it whole.

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A Great Blue Heron follows a fish down Obsidian Creek in Yellowstone National Park.

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The Great Blue Heron strikes during a hunt at Obsidian Creek in Yellowstone National Park.

All of the landscape (horizontal) large version images linked from the thumbnails are 1500 pixels wide.
Portrait (vertical) images are 1200 pixels tall (1290 pixels with title bar). Images designated with an “M”
in the shot number are 5:4 aspect ratio, 1500 x 1290 with a title bar, or 1500 x 1200 without a title bar.
Some of the portrait images are also designated as ”M”, and are 1500 pixels tall (plus the title bar).

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The Great Blue Heron retracting its head after a strike on a fish in Obsidian Creek.

The most common hunting technique is wading in shallow water and spearing prey with its bill.

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Egrets & Herons Shorebirds

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A Great Blue Heron with its bill turned orange at the beginning of breeding season
stands in Obsidian Creek during an early October hunt in Yellowstone National Park.

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Two minutes later, the sun passes behind the clouds and the light softens, reducing the contrast considerably.

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The Great Blue Heron reaches into the shallow water of Obsidian Creek to catch slow moving prey...

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... and comes up with a small frog in its bill during a late morning hunt in early October.

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The Great Blue Heron strikes a pose, adopting one of the more elegant positions I’ve seen.
As he was strutting across the creek a fish attracted his attention, creating an interesting shot.

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A Great Blue Heron hunting in early October at Obsidian Creek in Yellowstone National Park.

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Egrets & Herons Shorebirds

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Great Blue Heron Alpha Male 1825

I have added several portraits of Great Blue Herons taken in Florida, New Mexico and California.

Above left, a Great Blue Heron stands on a rocky perch above the beach on Sanibel Island, Florida.
Above right, a Great Blue Heron in breeding plumage at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in NM.

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A Great Blue Heron alpha male in breeding plumage struts alongside a canal at Bosque del Apache.

During breeding season, the neck feathers grow into long plumes and plumes also appear on the back.
This male had the longest plumes and most strongly defined markings of any heron at Bosque del Apache.

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A 1000 x 1590 close portrait of a heavily bearded
Great Blue Heron at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.

The beard plumes look heavier than they actually are because he had them
fluffed up to help him keep his neck warm (the temperature was 20 degrees).

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A Great Blue Heron in flight at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, NM, on a cold December morning.
The Great Blue Heron, like the Great Egret, bends its neck in flight to tuck its head in close to the body.

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An extreme close portrait of a Great Blue Heron at Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge.

This close portrait is rare in two respects. First, that I was able to approach a GBH at
Bolsa Chica Refuge closely enough to try it, and second because of the angle, shooting
from about five feet above the bird. The friend I was shooting with was used to quiet approach,
and I think we came up on him so softly he may not have noticed we were there until I took the shot.

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Egrets & Herons Shorebirds

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American Avocets in non-breeding plumage, in flight over Swan Lake in Yellowstone National Park.

American Avocets are long-legged shorebirds with a long, thin, upwardly-curved bill and a distinctive
black and white striped pattern on the back and wings. Avocets have long, bluish-gray legs and feet.

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An American Avocet in non-breeding plumage dances across the waters of Swan Lake in late September.

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American Avocets in non-breeding plumage, landing on Swan Lake in Yellowstone National Park.

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American Avocets in breeding plumage on Trout Lake in Yellowstone, taken in late April.

American Avocets prefer freshwater marshes and shallow marshy lakes.

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A flock of American Avocets in breeding plumage fly over a Trumpeter Swan on Trout Lake in Yellowstone.

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American Avocets in breeding plumage on Trout Lake in Yellowstone National Park, taken in late April.

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Egrets & Herons Shorebirds

I have provided a number of close portraits of American Avocets in winter and breeding plumage
below, which were taken at Newport Back Bay and the Baylands Nature Reserve in Palo Alto, CA.

These images are from the Shorebirds page in the Bolsa Chica Wildlife section.

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An American Avocet watches a hawk passing overhead.

This Avocet, in non-breeding plumage, was taken at Newport Back Bay in February.

The long blue-gray legs of this wading shorebird are distinctive. The Avocet feeds in
the shallow water and mud flats by thrusting its upwardly curved bill in and stirring from
side to side, flushing out aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, insects and plant material.

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American Avocets wading through the mud flats at Newport Back Bay.

The white feathers against the dark backgrounds of water and mud
can make photographing Avocets a challenging exposure problem.

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An American Avocet digs through the mud looking for its next meal.

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American Avocets in the thick gooey mud of Newport Back Bay.
Their blue-gray legs gave them the colloquial name of “blue shanks”.
The female Avocet’s bill curves upwards more than the male bird’s bill.

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A rear-quarter close flight portrait of an American Avocet in breeding plumage in May.

American Avocet Breeding Colors 1997

These images were taken at the Baylands Nature Reserve in Palo Alto, California.

The American Avocet is the only species with distinctive breeding and non-breeding plumages.
The head and neck of the Avocet acquire a russet to cinnamon coloration for the breeding season.

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American Avocets conduct elaborate courtship displays that include preening and splashing.

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Mating American Avocets at the Baylands Nature Reserve in Palo Alto, California, taken in May.

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The male looks longingly at the female after denouement.
Notice the more strongly curved bill of the female Avocet.

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Egrets & Herons Shorebirds

For more Herons, click the Display Composite above to visit the Egrets and Herons Wildlife Study section.

More Avocets and other Shorebirds can be seen in the Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge section.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Sandhill Cranes of Yellowstone page.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Trumpeter Swans of Yellowstone page.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Raptors of Yellowstone page.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Assorted Birds of Yellowstone page.

Click the Display Composite above to return to the Yellowstone section index page.