Wading Birds of Deerfield Island

GREAT BLUE HERON

The 2nd tallest bird in the US, and largest heron in North America, they are often seen standing silently, watching for prey in the water, or sitting atop trees or shrubs, where they also nest and lay their pale blue eggs. Both parents feed the young by regurgitation for about 60 days. Fearsome predators, they eat fish, lizard, frogs, snake, rats, and even very young alligators. Their beautiful bluish plumage is ornate with long head plumes , not often visible .

BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERON

Smaller but chunky looking , with a black bill shorter than the other herons, they are well adapted to feed on crustaceans. They are more active to forage at dusk . They can be seen sitting motionless near the water . Their white belly and black head cap helps to differentiate them from the yellow crowned night heron. Their legs are hidden most of the time.

YELLOW CROWNED NIGHT HERON

 They are often mistaken for the Black Crowned, in terms of body and bill shape and habits. But their whole body is more a shade of grey except for the yellowing head cap. They forage mostly at night but also during the day . Contrary to the Black Crowned, we can easily see their bright yellow legs .

GREAT EGRET

In the 18th century, this elegant bird was sought for its beautiful flowing courtship white feather for fashion, which almost caused their extinction. It is now the symbol of the national Audubon society. It has a cruising speed of 25 miles/hour in just 2 wingbeats. They are territorial and aggressive. With long black legs and feet, long yellow bill, S-curved long neck, it is a predator of fish, frogs and other small animals. Its wing span reaches 55 .

SNOWY EGRET

Smaller white heron, the Snowy Egret has black long legs, and yellow feet. Her long black slender bill helps her scurry around the shallow waters for fish, crustaceans and even frogs, snakes, worms and insects. Her smaller size, color of feet and bill helps differentiate her from the Great Egret .

CATTLE EGRET

Why Cattle? It is because there has been frequent sightings of these smaller herons hitching a ride on their backs. Why ? Because when these grazing animals move around, they might disturb a frog or an insect that the egret can feast on . Pretty wise …

They have yellow or greyish legs, yellow beaks. These egrets are more social and they often gather in large colonies and even with other bird species.

WHITE IBIS

Ibises can be seen almost everywhere around us. Here we see mainly the white ones, with long reddish legs, long slender down curved red orange bill, a reddish face and usually white plumage with black wingtips. The juveniles have splotchy brown and white plumage.

They sweep their bill back and forth in the bottom of shallow water to find food.

They also pick in the grass for insects. They can be very unafraid of humans, especially those feeding them bread, which is not good for them at all, as it is also not good for any of the wading birds.

ANHINGA

A large , dark plumage with long thin neck and pointed dagger bill, the Anhinga is often seen perched by the water with his wings stretched out. Unlike most water birds, his feathers are not waterproof . So they like sunning themselves while drying their feathers .

They prefer freshwater lakes or ponds. They snake in the water with just their head poking above the surface. That is why it is also called the “snakebird”, which is the Brazilian Tupi language origin of the word a’ninga. They feed on small fish and amphibians and will also target young alligators and snakes.