Great Blue Heron Resting On A Tree Branch In The Woods Of North America Royalty-Free Stock Photography

This is one of the larger wading birds of North America, with a wingspan of nearly 72 inches. It has blue-gray upperparts, a grayish neck, long legs, a whitish chin and a dark blue eyebrow which often ends in a tuft of dark feathers. It feeds by standing in or alongside water, striking its prey with its large daggerlike yellow bill.It has a varied diet, consuming insects, crustaceans, fish, amphibians, and even small reptiles and mammals. The bird was standing on the shallow stream bed from where it flew, on being disturbed, settling finally on a tree branch. The depth of the feathers and rich plumage, enhanced by the backlit sun, has been brought out well in the photograph, which was shot with a Canon DSLR EOS 550D, at 1/2000 sec., f/8, 120mm focal length.