Herons

Characteristic features

Herons are characterized by long legs, beaks and necks, which adapts them to catching food in shallow water. Herons are found on all continents, but they are only found near freshwater and their diet mainly consists of fish, crustaceans, reptiles or amphibians. The size of herons varies greatly: the smallest species belongs to the genus of the little bittern and is only 27 cm tall, the largest species at 1.4 meters are the goliath herons. The greatest diversity of heron species is found in South America and Africa.

Depending on the species, they are either solitary like the tiger heron or live in colonies like the night herons. Breeding, however, usually takes place in groups and in exceptional cases, such as in Africa at the Niger Delta, breeding colonies of enormous size, sometimes over 60,000 animals, can occur.

Population of herons

Herons are not among the group of birds that are immediately threatened with extinction, but some species are highly endangered. Such as the Madagascar heron or the Australian bittern. The threats to herons are usually due to the destruction of their original habitats by humans and environmental pollution.