Boid
(In the Everglades)

It's not just a boid but a heron. In fact, from the color and markings it looks like a Great Blue Heron. That is, it's a Ardea herodias to the cognoscenti.

Herons are pretty good size, reaching four feet with nigh on six foot wingspans. As big as they are, an adult male weighs "only" about five pounds. There are other flying birds of considerable more heft. The Goliath heron of Africa and Asia can weigh over 10 points and reach five feet, and some swans can reach 20 pounds or more.

Herons are truly ubiquitous birds and can be found in virtually all continents in temperate and tropical regions. The great blue heron lives mostly in North and Central America, and ranges from southern Canada to the north coast of South America. It isn't unusual for people taking a leisurely stroll through parks of Great Metropolitan Areas and see a heron looking for fish in the local streams and creeks. Happily, great blue herons are not on any endangered lists and seem to be doing quite well, thank you.

References and Further Reading

The Herons, James Kushland and James Hancock (Authors), David Thelwell (Illustrator), Oxford University Press, 2005.

The Herons Handbook, James Hancock and James Kushlan (Authors), Robert Gillmor and Peter Hayman (Illustrators), Harper and Row, 1984.