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5

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) Size: 84-102 cm; wing span 1.55-1.75 m Weight: 1.0-2.1 kg

Oman: Family Group 5 Family Group 5 Table Great White Egret Intermediate Egret Cattle Egret Little Egret Western Reef Heron Purple Heron Grey Heron Striated Heron Squacco Heron Indian Pond Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Little Bittern African Sacred Ibis Glossy Ibis Eurasian Spoonbill White Stork Greater Flamingo Lesser Flamingo Thumbnails page Classification table Index of bird names Oman birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Grey Herons are tall, very slender herons. Adults have a white head with black stripes from just above and behind the eyes leading to black nuchal plumes at the nape of the neck. The long, kinked neck is grey down the front, with prominent black spots. The rest of the neck is pinkish-buff. The rest of the body plumage is grey, except for black streaks along the base of the underwings. The wings have mid-grey coverts and dark-grey flight feathers, with black and white shoulder patches. The irises are orange-brown. The bill is bright orange-yellow. The legs and feet are greyish-yellow. Immature and juvenile Grey Herons are grey where adults are pinkish-buff and their bill is yellowish-grey, with a grey upper mandible. They do not have a white head yet, but a grey cap (first winter) and then an off-white cap with short dark nuchal plumes (second winter). Also the wing patches are less pronounced than in adults and the legs are greyer, too.

Taxonomy, classification See Grey Heron at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Grey Heron is available HERE . There are 4 races of Grey Herons, which are a partly migratory species. Nominate race "cinerea" is found throughout temperate Europe, Asia and also large parts of Africa. They are permanent residents on the British Isles, in most of France and northern Germany and Poland, as well as northern Italy and some other parts of the northern Mediterranean. They are also permanently present along the river Danube, the Black Sea coastline, towards the southern Caspian Sea and along the major rivers of Iraq towards the Persian Gulf coastline. In summertime they extend their breeding range into mid-latitude Eurasia and coastal central Scandinavia. Part of the European population winters in the northern Mediterranean, most of Turkey and the African North coast along the Atlas Mountains. There is also a wintering population in parts of the Middle East, Iraq and along parts of the Arabian coastline. Other races are found in eastern Asia, Madagascar and islands off Mauritania (for details see a field guide). In Oman we have found Grey Herons, race "cinerea", on the North coast of the country. Grey Herons can be found in both freshwater habitats such as lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and other types of wetlands, and saline water, e.g. along oceanic coastlines.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "cinerea" A juvenile Grey Heron, race "cinerea", was first spotted by us on the Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, Oman, in August-October 2009. Others was spotted in Qurm, near Muscat, in December 2009. An adult Grey Heron, race "cinerea", was seen at Quriyyat in May 2010.

Photos

Race "cinerea"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of an adult Grey Heron on a mudflat
[Quriyyat, May 2010]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Close-up lateral portrait of a juvenile Grey Heron
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, September 2009]

Lateral view of an juvenile Grey Heron in a palm tree
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, September 2009]

Lateral view of a juvenile Grey Heron going about its normal business of hunting in a shallow pond
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, September 2009]

Juvenile Grey Heron (right) and dark phase Western Reef Heron (left) next to each other, giving a direct estimate of the relative sizes of both species
[Qurm, December 2009]

Lateral view of a juvenile Grey Heron in flight
[Qurm, December 2009]

Food, Diet

All egrets and herons prey on aquatic creatures in fresh water or estuaries (fish, frogs, snakes or crustaceans).

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

gheron_dw_20200726.m4a	cinerea (Poland)	Contact call	© DW
gheron_dw_20180818.m4a	cinerea (Poland)	Contact calls	© DW
gheron_jp_20190608_2.m4a	cinerea (Portugal)	(Begging calls+) contact call	© JP
gheron_jp_20190608_1.m4a	cinerea (Portugal)	Alarm call	© JP
gheron_jp_20190608_3.m4a	cinerea (Portugal)	Various, incl. begging chicks (+ House Sparrows)	© JP

More Grey Heron sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

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