The purple heron is characterized by its long beak, narrow neck, reddish chestnut colored head. These birds are often mistaken for the grey heron which are larger and paler in color.
The males are a deeper grey with a purple gloss. The elongated neck of the birds and the dark pattern running across the throat gives it a snake like appearance. The purple color on these birds is much more clearer when they catch the light in flight. These birds have small wings and even smaller tail.
The purple herons prefer water bodies with dense reeds where they can breed. They feed on small fish, insects mainly invertebrates, mollusks , crustaceans. They usually fish in water that is not too deep and stand for hours looking into the water. The Asian herons do not migrate like their European cousins
These bird lays eggs in clutch of 2-8 eggs. Sibling rivalry is fierce and many of the young birds do not survive into adulthood. It has been fun to learn about the purple heron for me. I hope it was interesting information for you as well.
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Question of
Have you seen purple herons?
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Yes
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Question of
Have you seen purple herons?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Did you do any bird watching over the weekend?
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Yes
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No
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I don’t see herons around here often but when I travel its always a pleasure to watch them.
It is indeed a pleasure to watch them, thank you glory daze for the visit. I don’t see you here often these days.
I have never seen a heron in these colors. We have white and gray herons.
Actually the camera didn’t capture the colors too well, as the bird was far away and there was far too much light.
To me all birds are interesting, I enjoy learning about them.
Agreed. birds , gardening, crafting and few other things are among my interests.
I get that from your user name. 😀
we had these wandering our pond when we lived in Indiana. I have a few pictures of the herons fishing!
How wonderful, we have to travel so far to see these birds.
i would bet, I will share some pictures eventually again, about the herons and our pond!
I would love to see them. These were so far away.
i will share some with my wander project today!
I really have not seen purple herons, dear Dawn … we have white and gray herons
They are very rare here as well.
We only have a white heron here. On Sunday ie yesterday I watched the swallows that came from the South. I saw them by the sea. Seagulls and pigeons are a daily sight.
We don’t have seagulls here , pigeons , sunbirds, barbets are in plenty here. I watch the everyday.