Posted on the 19th of April 2026
Grey Heron
Scientific Name: Ardea cinerea
A grey heron I found while on a walk
A grey heron I found sitting in a tree
Morphology and Range
Grey herons are tall, grey (who would have guessed?) birds, similar to cranes. They have bright yellow beaks and eyes, with black markings above the eyes that look like really bushy eyebrows. The average height of a grey heron is about 90-98cm), average weight is 1.5kg and average wing span is 1.8m.
Grey herons can be found over the majority of the globe. They can be found all year round in the UK, France, Belgium, sub-Saharan Africa and south east Asia. During the breeding season, they can be found throughout central Eurasia and Norway. When the breeding season is over, grey herons can be found throughout western Europe, such as in the Iberian peninsula, as well as some areas of India and the northern coast of Africa.
A close up picture of a grey herron
Credit: Savithri Singh
A grey herron eating a sea snake
Credit: Daryona
Diet and Reproduction
Grey herons mostly live in wetland and marine environments where they eat a variety of fish, sea snakes and amphibians. They also eat chicks, small birds and small mammals such as field mice. Because they eat small mammals, they can often be seen in farmers’ fields looking for rodents, especially after farmers have harvested their crops.
During the breeding season, the species forms colonies called “heronries” around lakes, wetlands or by the sea. Herons build nests high up in tall trees and nests tend to be reused if they’re still around the next breeding season. Their breeding season is in February, and during that time, females will lay around 3-4 eggs that hatch after about 26 days. Once the chicks have hatched, their parents take care of them for 50-55 days, at which point they fledge.
A juvenile grey heron
Credit: Eichler, Andreas
Mythology
An Irish superstition about grey herons is that they are an omen of the weather. If a heron is seen flying downstream of a river, that’s a sign of clear, sunny weather. However, if a heron is seen flying upstream, against the flow of the river, that’s a sign that it is going to rain. In Celtic mythology, herons were seen as creatures of adaptability as they seemed to live in the sky, on the earth, and in the water. Outside of its elemental symbolism, herons have also been seen as a sign of death. Another superstition about the grey heron is that if a heron flies over someone’s house, it is a sign that they’re going to die.
A deity from Egyptian mythology named “Bennu” was a grey heron. Bennu was a part of the sun god Ra’s soul. More specficly Bennu was the part of Ra’s soul that was his personality. Bennu has no parents as they created themselves, which resulted in them having one of the best titles I’ve heard "He Who Came Into Being by Himself". Bennu was adopted into Greek mythology, being what eventually became the phoenix.
A grey herron in flight
Credit: snowmanradio