Reiher Vorarlberg

Herons (Ardeidae) are a worldwide family of mostly freshwater birds specialised on hunting in shallow water. All species share the comparatively long, dagger-shaped bill, the long neck and the long legs. Six species breed regularly in Germany, although purple heron and night heron occur only very locally in southern Germany and the great egret is mainly seen as a visitor. The species you will meet most often in the field is the grey heron (Ardea cinerea), with a body length of 90 to 98 centimetres and a wingspan of 175 to 195 centimetres. It carries grey upperparts, a whitish head with black crest feathers and a row of black spots on the foreneck. The great egret (Ardea alba) is almost the same size but pure white, and its range in central Europe has expanded sharply in recent years. Purple heron and night heron are smaller and tied to warm reed habitats.

Herons occupy nearly every type of waterbody and wetland: lakes, ponds, river banks, flood zones, reedbeds, marshes, wet meadows and floodplain forests. They wade in shallow water and take fish, amphibians, reptiles, aquatic insects and small mammals, and they need trees or dense scrub nearby for their typically colonial nests. Grey heron and great egret are highly adaptable and also use city parks, urban waterways and ornamental ponds.

This way of life explains the well-known conflict with fish farming. Losses in carp and trout ponds attributed to the grey heron were the historical trigger for a partial lifting of the closed season in Bavaria in 1983. In most other regions, however, the grey heron remains protected year round; special rules for commercial fish farms exist in single federal states such as Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia and Schleswig-Holstein, and they apply only under narrow spatial and seasonal conditions. Several states also pay compensation for verified damage caused by grey heron, great egret and cormorant. In practical terms this means: across the DACH region herons are essentially not huntable and should be treated as a protected family.

Reliable identification in the field rests above all on neck posture in flight. Herons fold the neck into an S-shape against the shoulders, so the head sits close to the body. Cranes by contrast fly with a long, straight, fully extended neck, trail their legs clearly beyond the tail and call with a trumpeting voice, often as a duet. This flight silhouette alone rules out confusion with the crane. Gulls differ from herons through a much smaller wingspan, narrow pointed wings, a short neck and faster wingbeats; their feet do not protrude beyond the tail. Anyone who consistently checks neck and leg posture in flight can separate heron, crane and gull reliably even at long distance.