Frequently Asked Questions

Get more specific information in the wildlife section!

Q) What do Heron's eat?

A) The great blue heron fishes in both night and day, with most of its activity around dawn and dusk. The heron uses its long legs to wade in shallow water and its sharp "spearlike" bill to catch its food. The great blue heron's diet consists of fish, frogs, salamanders, lizards, snakes, shrimps, crabs, crayfish, dragonflies, grasshoppers, and many aquatic insects.

Q) What are Heron's population numbers?

A) On the Southern tip of Vancouver Island there are approximately 200 Great Blue Heron's, nesting in 4 separate groups scattered around the area. There are probably several thousand Heron's in the entire lower mainland/ Vancouver Island region. Click here for a population map.

Q) What are the Heron's natural predators?

A) Herons are susceptible to disturbance from Bald Eagles that prey on chicks and adults in the colonies. A nesting heron study conducted in 1999 in the Georgia Basin concluded that Bald Eagles targeting heron eggs or young were responsible for the abandonment of 13 of 31 colonies (Vennesland, 2000). However, humans might have been ultimately responsible by creating a fragmented landscape that allowed eagles easy access to herons and their nests.

Q) How long do they live?

Sixty-nine percent of new born great blue herons die in their first year (Hancock and Kushlan 1984). Two of the oldest known great blue herons have lived 23 years, 3 months (Clapp et al 1982) and 20 years (Kennard 1975), respectively.

Q) How fast can they fly?

Two separate studies measured a cruising speed between 19 and 29 miles per hour (Palmer 1962) and another study recorded 23 miles per hour (Wood 1933).