Great Blue Heron

With its striking plumage, the great blue heron is one of the most widely recognized wading birds in North America. Riding on kelp beds, wading in coastal streams, poised motionless at the water's edge on a misty morning, or nesting in the limbs of old-growth forests, this stately bird is a familiar sight on the coast. The largest colonies are on the Fraser River delta, an are of great ecological significance to the north Pacific.

In this beautifully illustrated book, Robert Butler follows the great blue heron through a year on the coast of British Columbia. He draws on more than a decade of work to throw light on the adaptability of this magnificent bird to a temperate climate, its diet and foraging habits, breeding biology, dispersal and demography, habitat use and conservation. Although the great blue heron has become a symbol of wetland conservation, in recent years it has had to face new challenges as a consequence of rapid urbanization of its environment.

This authoratative book brings together all current available knowledge about a fascinating coastal icon. The Great Blue Heron will be a valuable resource for naturalists, ecologists, and all those interested in conservation issues.