Three greenbacked herons have been visisting our backyard lately. Since they basically are solitary birds, my guess is that it is a pair with last-year's offspring still hanging around, but who knows? I see a single bird more often than the group, but they are incredibly good at blending in with the shadows and foliage. This particular one likes to perch on the rim of a lotus pot that is more out in the open.
 |
| Greenbacked Heron - On Right Has Raised Crest |
The birds are about the size of a small crow. Their coloration and habit of sitting very still for long periods, (in bird time, at least), make them hard to pick out within the dappled light of low branches. I observe them from inside a screened porch, which makes them even harder to spot.
Despite their common names - greenbacked, little green, green heron - they appear mostly slate blue or a murky teal on their backs, upper wing backs, and crests. It is only in certain light that a green iridiscence is visible. The breast and neck of "our" birds are a rich chestnut with a few white streaks, and the bird's underparts are grayish. Juveniles are browner, and have a white breast streaked with chestnut. The legs are supposed to be yellow, but through the screen, the legs of my visitor seem to be pinkish-beige. Breeding males sport bright orange legs. Another common name is "shietpoke," apparently in reference to its habit of letting fly when flushed, and "skeow," because of its call.
 |
| Perching, Colored Pencil |
With their often squat posture, the bird's size can be a little hard to judge, because it can "telescope" its long neck in and out. The extended neck is about the length of the bird's body. The greenbacks's hunching posture results from retracting the neck. That posture along with the size is enough to id a greenbacked heron in this area. A former neighbor who often saw the bird fishing from a sagging docking line interpreted this pose as aggressive, and called the bird "Mr. Ugly." Mr. Ugly did have the unlovely habit of chasing away any other birds trying to infringe on his fishing grounds, but as far as I have observed, the behavior is typical of most birds.
 |
Postures (The Neck is Longer in Relation to the Body than Shown) |
Their legs are short for herons, so they stick mostly to the shallows when they feed by wading. Some have been reported to dive. I've never seen that behavior with greenbacks, but I have watched a great blue egret dive from a dock into about 3-4 feet of water to hunt for fish attracted by a snook light. This went on night after night. The little greens here like to hunt from low-hanging docking lines, and a conduit leading from the seawall to our dock. (The conduit runs under the dock, so the bird is well-hidden). At low tide they will perch on oysters that have accumulated on the seawall. In nature, they hunt from exposed roots and low branches.
Little greens also know how to fish, dropping small bits of sticks, straw and prey into the water to attract minnows. They also deliberately stir up prey from the bottom when wading.
Their diet consists of minnows, crustaceans, insects and mollusks. An avid birdwatching acquaintance observed little greens coughing up bits of shell and bones. Maybe it was clearing its craw?
The most common calls are a metallic, repeated "kuk-kuk-kuk," and an explosive, rather high-pitched "skeow." I hear both, and sometimes either duets or duels of the "skeow" cry. Some of my bird books say that the "yuk-kuk" is an alarm call, while others give the "skeow" cry that purpose. I often hear both calls without seeing the birds at all.
My solitary visitor likes to drink from the lotus pot, and also spends a lot of time staring at the water. It's early days for tadpoles, but I won't be surprised if I see it fishing for them this summer.
Both sexes work to build the nest, and both feed the baby birds by regurgitating. The baby birds quickly become adept at climbing.
 |
| Front Cover |
When I started this blog I vowed not to be a perfectionist when it came to my sketches. I've certainly fulfilled that pledge with my attempts to portray birds. My summer project will be making my way through John Muir Laws' book, The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds. (Audubon, 2012). A lot of this information is included in his Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, which I can't recommend highly enough. It was published in 2016. John Muir Laws offers many instructional videos and tips on his site, johnmuirlaws.com.
 |
| Front Cover |
No comments:
Post a Comment