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Bird Sounds: Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron Calls

Catherine Boeckmann
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Listen to the sounds and bird calls of the Great Blue Heron! This majestic bird is often seen near rivers and ponds, and its call is quite distinct.

To those lucky enough to spot a Great Blue Heron standing in or near water, it’s a sight that can take your breath away. They often stand motionless or wading very slowly, stalking their prey for hours upon hours.

With its beautiful blue-grey feathers, this water bird stands 4 to 5 feet tall and has a wingspan reaching up to 6.5 feet from tip to tip. Great Blue Herons can catch almost anything in the water, including fish, frogs, newts, turtles, small mammals, insects, and other birds. 

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The Sound of the Great Blue

The Great Blue Herons “squawk” or croak has an almost prehistoric sound. If you surprise this bird as it is hunting on the water, it will squawk as it leaves, almost as if it’s annoyed by your disturbance. The bird, despite its size, is very light with hollow bones and can fly quite high. Their giant wing span and dramatic silhouettes when flying conjure images of pterodactyls.

Herons can be quite vocal during breeding. When one partner greets the other, they touch their bills together and when they fly to the nest, they make a “landing call” with squawking roh-roh-rohs. If their territory is threatened, they will “scream” with a long and startling “awk!!” that can last up to 20 seconds.

Have you heard a Great Blue Heron? Listen to their sound above, compliments of The Macaulay Library at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Click here to listen to the sounds of other birds! 

Bird Sounds
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

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Comments

Kim Neilsen (not verified)

1 year 3 months ago

I built a small water feature by my front patio with waterfall, marsh plants and goldfish. Returning home from work one day last year I spied, what at first I thought was a person by my front door, but was actually a large, mature Heron. Originally I had (7) fish but after Mr Heron's visit I only have (2)

Sandy (not verified)

1 year 3 months ago

Here in Florida, they are spotted very frequently. I have a great picture of one that had a small snake in its mouth.

Jerez (not verified)

4 years ago

I live near Puget Sound in Washington. It’s a large estuary inland from the Pacific Ocean, we have eagles and the heron in the neighborhood but I’d never heard their mating call till this day. Amazing. Primitive deep sound. One flew over making the sound and as I stood in awe of their size and flight snd sound, quickly another followed. I’m in a town called Mukilteo NW of Seattle near the Mukilteo ferry. I see them all the time actually, even fairly close distance when traveling the area. I have a video of one catching something to eat up at Laconner WA I’m fascinated by them. And that sound! I’d like a recording of that one sound. It’s quite remarkable.

Brandy Toll (not verified)

4 years 4 months ago

There are two young blue heron in the trees on my grandparents property near our pond surrounded by bamboo. The pond doesn't keep any fish at all so the two may enjoy the frogs that live below. Thank you.

Ruth Kelley (not verified)

4 years 7 months ago

We live on a tidal marsh called Thalia Creek in Virginia Beach, VA and watch these beauties fishing daily in the creek. Occasionally they come up into the yard and my daughter, a nature enthusiast, fondly named a baby one, "Icky Bicky". So now we refer to them all as Icky Bicky whenever we see them gracefully fly by, hovering low over the water. Beautiful to watch, but their awkward squawk doesn't match their graceful appearance!

Pamela Montoya (not verified)

5 years 8 months ago

Saw 1 on these a couple of weeks ago, Utah, Springville.. Have geese too. There.s a lot of them that fly by too. There's fields of grain and wild grass.

Lisa Knight (not verified)

6 years 5 months ago

I have a stream running through my backyard and have seen a Great Blue Heron several times. Now it’s summer and I hear him/her squawking! So cool! It’s night so can’t see, but hear him/her! Decatur, GA

Gretchen (not verified)

6 years 7 months ago

I saw a blue heron flying away from my small pond in Bridgton, Maine.

Sarah Whicker (not verified)

6 years 10 months ago

Living near the Ohio River (halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati) I see these occasionally on the riverbank.

Allene Hogan (not verified)

7 years 4 months ago

While I was living in Aberdeen Wa., we rented a house on the Wishkah river. It had a resident mother and son heron. I had the delightful experience of looking out the kitchen window and seeing them flying up the river. Then I opened the window to hear them and I thought I was in a Time Warp. They sounded like prehistoric birds. I never heard anything like that before, except in the movies. It was awesome. I adapted my morning routine so that I could see them every morning, flying up the river in the predawn mist, and hear them calling. I really felt like I had stepped back in time.