Heron

There are 64 known[|species] in the Heron family. Some are called [|Egrets]and some are called [|Bitterns] **instead of called Heron**. It mainly live on its own and hunts for fish and frog.n. The average age that a Heron can live is around 18 years. It’s body is mainly covered with black, white and grey feather and can grow to 120 cm tall. Baby Heron only have grey feather because their feather will get darker as they grow. Both baby and grown up Heron have green and yellow beak Their feet are mainly black. It flies with it’s neck retracted and therefore making a deep “kroak” sound.
 * __Modern __****__ Heron __**

 Heron has their own adaptation feature in order to help them hunt and survive. It has **large beak**with sharp point for spearing fish. It opens and closes it’s large beak to stir water and attract the fish to come. It’s **grey fur** is used to camouflage itself.The large beak also helps Heron to catch flying insects and even poking refuse. The aero-dynamic shape of the beak makes diving into the water to stab at food a lot easier.Heron’s flexible long legs allows it to hunt efficiently in the wetlands. It can crouch or stand upright or hop toward moving food. This flexible **legs** provides a comfortable feeding posture. **Heron** **’s **** feet **  are used to disturb the water while hovering above or in landing on the water. enabling it to stab at the food beneath with the beak.Through paddling across the water, it helps to disturb it’s prey which makes catching much easier.The feet also allows the Heron to swim in rough water and even to scrape refuse floating in the water. Herons have large wing spans which helps it’s hunting behavior. By flicking it’s **wings** back and forth, extending and retracting, and raising and lowering it’s wings to frightens it’s prey.. It’s wings are particularly useful in low flight attempts trying to catch insects,fluttering in the air and diving into the water. Heron’s large eyes provides it a binocular vision to facilitate it’s hunting.Its S-shaped neck also gives it a greater striking strength. All these mentioned distinguishing features have given Heron its beautiful appearance and enables its efficient hunting capabilities. Heron walks slowly at approximately 60 steps a minute.Whilst walking around, it watch the environment attentively and snatches it’s prey when it is observed. It is amazing that Heron has the ability to calculate the position of the prey in the water by compensating for [|refraction] Once its prey is accurately located, it will spear the prey with its long strong beak. The nest of Heron is usually found near or above water. It typically place its nest in vegetation to enjoy better protection. However, when there is not suitable trees of shrubs available in their environment, a few species build their nests on the ground. __Heron's Habitat__ Heron is adaptable and widespread. It exist on all continents such as Africa, Europe, China, Korea and Japan.except [|Antarctica]. Nearly all Herons live near the water but certain Heron species require specific inland environment such as living near the livestock to catch insects. It mainly lives in wetlands, swamps, lakes, rivers and ponds. . <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Heron often constructs large nests in trees. The larger Herons like the great blue Heron make a large platform-like nest of sods, small branches, sticks and grasses.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Heron’s ____<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">S ____<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">tructural ____<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> adaptation __**
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Heron’s ____<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Behavioral ____<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> adaptation __**

__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">**Extinct** **Heron** __ [|Bermuda Night Heron] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Bermuda Night Heron (Nyctanassa carcinocatactes) is an extinct Heron species from [|Bermuda]. It was first described in 2006 by [|Storrs L. Olson] and [|David B. Wingate] from [|subfossil] material found in the [|Pleistocene] and [|Holocene] deposits in caves and ponds of Bermuda. __**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|Bermuda Night Heron] **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> **’s Structural adaptation** __ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Night Herons have a **body coat** of either white or gray color with exception on its **crown and back**, which are dark in color. Its body coat color helps it to avoid fish noticing they are above them. However young night Heron has a brown coat dotted with white and gray spots. Comparing to modern Heron, extinct night Heron has **sh****ort necks** and **legs** which hinders its fish catching capabilities even when it is fully grown which may be one of the reasons why it cannot survive. __**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Bermuda ’s <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Behavioraland Habitat adaptation **__ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Night Heron breeds in swamps and marshlands from the eastern [|United States] to north-eastern [|South America].It nests in colonies by buildingon platform of sticks. The nests are situated mostly in a group of trees. On islands or reed beds where the night Heron feels protected, night Herons may build nests on the ground. During daytime, night Heronis usually seen resting in trees or in bushes. **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">It ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> lay ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">s ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> 3 to 8 eggs at a time **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">which is much lesser comparing with white Heron. Some night Heron resides permanently even in warm locations. Some[|migrate] to [|Central America] and the [|West Indies] for the coolness<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">. To increase their chance of surviving, they may occasionally wander north to the lower [|Great Lakes] or [|Ontario] after the breeding season. __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">**Environmental p****ressure** __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;">[|Bermuda Night //Heron//] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> became extinct possibly due to the settlement of the Bermuda islands in the 17th century. Settlers hunt and take away resources around the environment. This eventually leads to pollution and destruction of the night Heron’s habitat and lack of food sources. With the habitat loss, night Heron were not able to be protected by its environment and therefore easily being hunted or killed. The small number of night Heron eggs laid each time cannot compensate these losses. All these are possible reasons to explain for night Heron’s extinction.


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Future Heron __**
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The __****__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">T __****__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">ower __****__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Heron __**

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tower Heron will have exceptionally **long legs** up to 6 feet to allow them to be able to see things from a long distance. Having a distance scope of view, it can better prepare itself for any foreseeable danger or catching prey. It **possesses** **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">large ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">r ****<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> eyes **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> to broaden their scope of vision.It has **fur** that will change color to camouflage itself into the environment. It also have bigger **beak** then the White Heron allowing it to store more food inside it. Tower Heron’s **wing** is larger in order to scare enemy off by flapping its wings
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tower Heron __**__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">’s **Structural** adaptation __

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tower heron will lay more than 6 eggs at a time in order to reproduce faster. They will build their nest on top of the trees so their enemy cannot see them. They will also cover their nest with big leaves to avoid other birds seeing them. They will excrete in places that is away from their nest so hunters will not be able to track them. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Tower Heron extinct because they do not have enough trees to live on. This is caused by human over cut <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">ting the trees. Human are hunting them for fun causing a great loss of their kind. Humans are breaking the food chain so they do not have enough food to live on. As a result, they extinct because of the lacking of food and resources.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tower Heron __**__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">’s **habitat** __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[[image:http://i.imgur.com/7acLd.jpg width="327" height="179" align="right"]]
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tower Heron Environmental pressure __**

__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Bibliography __ Bermuda Night Heron: Reference. (2006). Retrieved 2011, from http://bongo-www.thefullwiki.org/Bermuda_Night_Heron

Inline Citation -- ( Bermuda Night Heron: Reference., 2006)

Bermuda Night Heron - all the information about Bermuda Night Heron. (2003-2011). Retrieved 2011, from http://ekerala.net/?search=Bermuda+Night+Heron

Inline Citation -- ( Bermuda Night Heron - all the information about Bermuda Night Heron., 2003-2011) Galapagos Shore Birds. Retrieved 2011, from http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/galapagos/gtblueHeron.html

Inline Citation -- ( Galapagos Shore Birds., )

Heron Bird Habitat. Retrieved 2011, from http://www.ehow.com/about_6464683_Heron-bird-habitat.html

Inline Citation -- ( Heron Bird Habitat., ) About Herons. (2006). Retrieved 2011, from http://www.heronworkinggroup.org/aboutherons.html

Inline Citation -- ( About Herons., 2006) Great Blue Heron. (2004). Retrieved 22011, from http://www.chilliwackblueheron.com/wildlife/herons-social-behaviour.html

Inline Citation -- ( Great Blue Heron., 2004)

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