great blue heron

Definition of great blue heron

: a large slaty-blue American heron (Ardea herodias) that has a dark crown, showy plumes on the head and neck, is about 46 inches (117 centimeters) long, and includes a white morph — see great white heron

Examples of great blue heron in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There was a paddling of ducks drifting about, a single cormorant, a great blue heron watching from a nearby eucalyptus tree, a snowy egret and a couple of juvenile night herons pocking around at the water’s edge. — Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Making friends at pond in Escondido’s Kit Carson Park," 12 Oct. 2019 Those brown patches are now covered by water with pond grasses that provide cover to whistling ducks, great blue herons and other water fowl. — Stephen Hudak, orlandosentinel.com, "Gotha lake threatens homes, Orange County does nothing, residents say," 30 Sep. 2019 Creating islands to assist in nurturing the largest great blue heron and egret rookery on the Upper Mississippi and what is becoming an annual stop for migrating white pelicans can only add to the rich wildlife refuge in our midst. — Letter Writers, Twin Cities, "Letters: The goal of the Pig’s Eye Lake island project," 7 Aug. 2019 Great egrets approach the great blue heron in size. — Taylor Piephoff, charlotteobserver, "You’ll have no regrets in search for egrets – and herons, too," 11 July 2018 The art piece is one of 14 benches along The Woodlands Waterway and features a great blue heron with a fish in its mouth sitting atop a bald cypress trunk. — Patricia Dillon, Houston Chronicle, "Art enthusiasts celebrate, build camaraderie at ‘ArtFeel Live’ in The Woodlands," 29 June 2018 Where the water comes closest to the trail, be on the lookout for stealthy great blue herons and ingeniously constructed beaver dams. — Mare Czinar, azcentral, "Arizona hike: Wildlife abounds on the South Fork Trail," 19 June 2018 Some of the birds that are currently protected under the act include the bald eagle, snowy egret and great blue heron. — Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post, "Osprey nest at a construction crane finds a new home," 7 June 2018 One of the biggest and hungriest of them all, officials say, are great blue herons, wading birds that will swallow fish after fish after fish if allowed to stand in a pond undisturbed. — Gregory B. Hladky, courant.com, "Hatcheries Try Guns, Nets, Noise To Protect Fish From Invading Birds," 21 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'great blue heron.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near great blue heron

great black-backed gull

great black cockatoo

great blue heron

great blue shark

great bowerbird

Statistics for great blue heron

Last Updated

19 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for great blue heron

The first known use of great blue heron was in 1835

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