Herons · Pelicans and herons
Purple Heron
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Ardea purpurea
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Voice
Alarm
Call
Call
How to recognize it
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Slightly smaller than a grey heron, 78–97 cm
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Chestnut-brown body, grey back
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Long slender neck; in flight, neck folded with a sharp kink
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Reed beds near water; secretive, slow flight with neck retracted
About the species
Purple Heron looks slimmer and more drawn-out than the grey heron. In flight, the folded neck and long toes give it a very different outline.
It is a quiet, hard-to-flush wetland dweller. When disturbed, it stretches up among reeds and can disappear almost completely into cover; it is also most active at dawn and dusk.
It lives in reed beds and other dense growth near water, and it seldom sits in trees. It hunts in shallow water, taking fish most often, but also insects, crustaceans, amphibians, and rodents; European populations leave for Africa in winter.
Where to find
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Along reed-lined pond edges, canals, and quiet backwaters — at dawn it may stand motionless in ankle-deep water before a sudden stab at prey.
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In dense cattails and reed beds by calm shores — the long neck can disappear between stems, then pop up like a stick.
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At shallow margins of lakes and slow river channels — it stalks in slow steps, staying close to cover instead of open water.
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In thick waterside shrubs near marshy banks — listen for a low, harsh call from hidden cover.
