Quarantine entry #92 - June 21

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, though sometimes it is okay, or at least – too early to tell. I myself am not particularly pleasant, especially on a regular basis, so when some day goes bad, it is my fault too, as well as somebody else’s. What next?

Today, let us talk herons, since these birds have regularly been mentioned in regards to the other wading birds. Ergo, where are we in regards to them?

The herons are a sister group to ibises and spoonbills. Neither storks nor cranes are related to them at all. In professional terms, the term ‘heron’ also covers egrets and bitterns; on average, an ‘egret’ and a ‘bittern’ are smaller than a ‘heron’ is; also, an ‘egret’ is usually colored white at least some of the time, (especially during the mating period), while a ‘bittern’ is cryptically-colored, it is a shy, retiring, nocturnal bird. Pause.

…Yes, the word ‘night’ might remind some people of the night herons. Unlike bitterns, night herons usually have stocker bills, are colored less cryptically and more contrastingly, and nest on trees, rather on than on the ground, as the bitterns do.

…The bitterns have also several distinct traits that the other herons just do not. First, they are some of the smallest of the herons, as they have such birds as the least bittern and the little bittern among their numbers. By contrast, the ‘true herons’ are some of the biggest – just look at the great blue heron of North America and the grey heron of the Eurasia and the goliath heron of Africa.

Second, the bitterns have the cryptic pattern on the plumage that lets them blend into the rushes and similar plants during the day, and, moreover, at least some bitterns can stretch themselves up and out vertically, becoming even more plant-like in shape – how that for disguise?

And on the other hand, bitterns have amazingly loud voices, as loud as those of bulls, which resonate loudly over the shallow bodies of water where these birds usually dwell. (Bigger species of herons venture into deeper waters, FYI). In this way, the bitterns communicate, rather than try to scare away the predators.

Other types of herons are more visual, especially the egrets, whose plumage, especially during the mating season, becomes extravagant, and those birds often participate in ritualistic dancing and courtship with each other. That said, most herons, (including the egrets, but not the bitterns), while social and colonial, are monogamous – one male & one female and they raise their chicks together.

…As it was said before, herons usually nest on trees, with some exceptions, (such as the bitterns), while the cranes do not. As such, the cranes’ feet are far less adapted to roosting in trees, but on the other hand? Cranes are more social birds than herons and fly in flocks together much more often than the herons do. They are somewhat more tolerant of each other than the herons are, they often live further away from water than the herons and their immediate relatives do, and the crane family is much less numerous than that of the herons – for example, there are just two species of cranes in North America, while the herons, (including the egrets and the bitterns, true, but still), number at least a dozen species. How that for ecological and evolutionary differences?

…Well, this is it for now, though. See you all soon!