Adult is very large, stands upright, with mostly gray body and wings, long gray neck, long black legs, straight black bill, and red crown. In summer, body is often rusty-reddish. Juvenile lacks red crown and has reddish-brown plumage. In flight, legs trail behind body and long neck extends straight ahead; flies with slow, powerful wing beats. Northern populations are notably smaller. Great Blue Heron is slimmer, has shorter legs, flies with a crooked neck, and shows a patterned foreneck and breast. Rare and endangered Whooping Crane has white body plumage.

Length: 117 (cm) Wingspan: 195 (cm)

Voice:

Distinctive trumpeting, bugling, rattling, far-carrying calls.

Habitat:

Prairies, grasslands, marshes, tundra, lakeshores, agricultural fields.

Behavior:

Walks on ground in open areas. Courtship involves complex dancing rituals. Nest is a pile of vegetation on damp grassy ground. In spring, fall, and winter, forms large flocks, sometimes in the thousands.

Feeding:

Picks food from ground; eats a variety of small animals and seeds.