Listen to the grey heron
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the grey heron
The grey heron is a bird in the family Ardeidae (order Pelecaniformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 173 cm and weigh around 61 g.
What does the grey heron sound like?
Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once. Songs tend to be long and patterned and are used to hold territory and attract a mate; calls are short signals for contact, alarm and flight.
The recordings here are labelled as nocturnal flight call, flight call, call and incredible scream. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout Europe, Asia, and most of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water, or stalking its prey through the shallows.
Standing up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) tall, adults weigh from 1 to 2 kg (2 to 4 lb). They have a white head and neck with a broad black stripe that extends from the eye to the black crest. The body and wings are grey above and the underparts are greyish-white, with some black on the flanks. The long, sharply pointed beak is pinkish-yellow and the legs are brown.
Related birds in the genus Ardea
More from the family Ardeidae
Black-crowned night heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
Eurasian bittern
Botaurus stellaris
Little egret
Egretta garzetta
Little bittern
Botaurus minutus
Striated heron
Butorides striata
Indian pond heron
Ardeola grayii
Agami heron
Agamia agami
American bittern
Botaurus lentiginosus
Green heron
Butorides virescens
Frequently asked questions
What does a grey heron sound like?
You can hear 6 recordings of the grey heron on this page, including its nocturnal flight call, flight call and call. Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once.
Is the grey heron endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the grey heron as “least concern”.
What family does the grey heron belong to?
The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) belongs to the family Ardeidae in the order Pelecaniformes.
Sources & credits
- Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) (W ARDEA CINEREA R1 C19) – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Nocturnal flight call · Dresden, Dresden, Sachsen, Germany by Jens Loose – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call, flight call, incredible scream · Arnhem, Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands by Joost van Bruggen – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Flight call, nocturnal flight call · Arnhem, Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands by Joost van Bruggen – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Nocturnal flight call · Oviedo, Asturias, Principado de Asturias, Spain by Luis Alvarez Menendez – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Nocturnal flight call · Fontaine-le-Comte, Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France by Benoît Van Hecke – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q25273 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Grey heron – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden – CC BY 2.0