Learning About Birds: Herons and Egrets

Herons are wading birds found on coastlines, wetlands, and lake shores. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica. There are 64 recognized species of heron, ranging in size from the foot tall bittern, to the nearly 5 ft tall goliath heron. The herons include all the birds commonly called herons, egrets, and bitterns.

Being shore birds, herons feed primarily on fish, but also eat small mammals, crustaceans, and insects. They typically nest in trees near the water and lay 2-6 eggs a season.

Activities and resources for learning about herons and egrets with elementary students

How Big Is A Great Blue Heron?
One of the most recognizable herons is the great blue heron. It is common near shores and wetlands in most of North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and the Galapagos Islands. The great blue heron is one of the largest herons, standing up to 5.5 ft tall and with a wingspan up to 6.6 ft. Despite it's height though, most great blue herons only weigh 5 to 6 pounds.

Help your kids get a better grasp on just how big this impressive bird can be! Pull out a yard stick and some painter's tape (or another type of tape that will come off your wall okay) and find a big blank wall to work on. Help your kids measure 5.5 ft up and mark it with your tape. Then measure 6.6 ft from side to side and mark it with the tape.

If you happen to buy spools of paper, like we do, you can even measure it out on paper and hang it on the wall.

Let your kids compare it to their own height.

Snowy Egret Craft
This is a craft my 9 year old came up with and I love the way they turned out!

For this craft you will need:
-paper
-pencil
-markers
-glue
-white craft feathers

Start by looking at some pictures of snowy egrets (a quick Google Image search will work) then sketch or print a picture of a heron or egret. You can find a free printable one here.

Then have your kids glue white craft feathers over it's body. They can color the beak yellow and draw in a background with markers or colored pencils if they like.

Additional Resources:
-Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns video from Peterson Field Guides
-5 Fascinating Facts About Great Blue Herons

If you enjoyed this post, check out my printable bird unit study and the rest of the posts in my Learning About Birds series.

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