White-faced heron’s are one of our most common herons, and I’m always struck by their grace and apparent fragility when I see them.
Standing around seventy centimetres high and with a wing span of a metre, they’re not easy to miss, and I think are quite memorable because of their appearance and their colouration, which really sets them apart from our other herons. They are found throughout Australia, except for the most arid parts of the interior, as well as Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, and other parts of the pacific region.
All herons have an extended sixth vertebrae in their neck which allows them to retract it into the distinctive S shape, and they can then extend it quickly in a darting like fashion to capture prey. White-faced herons are usually found around waters sources but will also inhabit parklands and pastures, preferably wetter ones though. They will eat a variety of mainly water bourne prey but will also eat terrestrial animals as well, such as rats and insects. They tend to move nomadically with the availability of prey.
In breeding season the adults grow longer plumes with reddish tinged ones on their neck and upper back. They nest and roost in colonies, preferably near water. The nest is a platform of sticks up to twenty metres off the ground in which 4 to 7 eggs are laid in spring. Both sexes are involved in constructing the nest, incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. White-faced herons usually aren’t territorial but become so in breeding season, as they need to protect the chicks from predation by other birds – including kookaburras, magpies and birds of prey.
This article first appeared in the High Country Herald on the 27th of August 2024