Herons
In Redwall
- Alignment: Passively good
- Appearance: Herons look like those in our world.
- Habitat: Marshes
- Typical Personality: Herons are passively good. They
won't join in on battles or quests or the like, but have been known to help
out goodbeasts and attack vermin. Most are fierce and stern, almost
feral, with few other emotions.
Outside Redwall
- Classification: Order: Ciconiiformes; Family: Ardeidae;
Species: Ardea herodias
- Other Names: Great Blue Heron; blue heron
- Appearance: Herons are huge birds, as tall as four
feet. They are usually blue-gray in color, though they can be almost
white. They have a massive wingspan: 72 inches from wingtip to
wingtip. They are also 46 inches long on average, from beak tip to
tail tip.
- Life Span: Herons can live as long as 23 years or more, but
most do not live so long.
- Diet: Herons eat fish, frogs, salamanders, lizards, snakes,
shrimps, crabs, crayfish, dragonflies, grasshoppers, and many aquatic
insects.
- Habitat: Most herons live near rivers, lake edges, marshes,
saltwater shores, and swamps. They make large nests near water.
- Typical Personality: Herons are relatively quiet birds.
- Habits: Great blue herons are most active at dawn and dusk,
though they can be seen at any time of the day or night.
- Life Cycle: The blue heron breeds during March - May.
They lay 3 - 7 eggs that hatch after around 28 days. Chicks fledge two
months after hatching.
- Sites for Further Research:
