Kenya camping:About goliath heron

This is the largest heron in the world. The height range between 120 to 152 cm. the wingspan is 185-230 cm while its weight 4-5kgs. In flight it has a slow and rather ponderous look and unlike some other herons. Its legs are not herd horizontally. Male and female look similar with overall coverings of state grey and chestnut feathers. The head and its bushy crest face back and slides of the neck are chestnut. The chin, throat, foreneck and upper breast are totally white, and with black streaks across the foreneck and upper breast.

The lower breast and belly are buff with black streak. The back and the upper wings are state grey with a chestnut shoulders patch at the bend and the lore’s and orbital areas are yellow with a greenish tirige. The eyes are yellow while legs and feet are black.

Habitat

The goliath heron is very aquatic even by heron standard rarely venturing far from a water source and preferring to fly long waterways rather than lakes, swamps, mangrove wetlands, reefs with far cool water. It is typically is found in shallow though can be observed near deep water over dense water vegetation.

Goliath herons can even be found in small watering holes. They have ranged in evolution from sea level to 2,100m. They tend to prefer pristine water lands and generally avoid areas where human disturbances are a regular occurrence. 

Diets

Goliath heron are solitary arid are highly territories towards other goliaths entering their feeding territories. On occasions two may be seen together but these are most likely to be breeding pairs or immature. A diurnal and often rather inactive feeder. This heron often hunts by standing in the showers, intently watching the water at its feet. It may also patch on heavy floating vegetation in order to present water from ripping around them. As the prey appears, the heron rapidly spears it with open mandibles often spearing both mandibles through the fish’s body and then swallows it whole. It is possible that the bill is used in a lure –like fashion occasionally attracting fish to the immobile.

The handling period is long with herons often placing their struggling prey on floating vegetation to swallow it small fish are generally ignored and the average goliath catches around 2 to 3 fishes a day.

Breading

Its breeding season coincides generally with the start of rainy season which is around November to Match. Breeding is year about around; with no discernible peak season breeding may not occur every year. Fairly adoptable in their nesting site selection. Goliath heron generally prefer to nest on island or islands of the vegetation. The birds may abandon a nesting site if the island becomes attached to the mainland, lakes or other large bodies of water usually hold calories. The nest fairly low in variously sedge, reeds, bushes, trees, or even on rocks or large tree stumps. The nesting dispersal seems highly variable as everything from a salutary pair to fairly large calories occasionally they may join mixed species such as cormorants, including other heron species such as cormorants darters ibises and gulls. The nests are large but often flimsy (depending on available vegetation around the nesting site often measuring around one to two meters in diameter.

Eggs are pale blue, average 72mm and weighing around 108g. the Dutch size can range from 2 to 5. Incubation last for 24 to 30 days, although they can sometimes replace clutches often only with small percentage of eggs succeed in hatching due to various environmental conditions or predators. The young are fed by regurgitation in the nest and often a few weeks they tend to practice defensive postures against each other. Due to its size and formidable bill the full grown goliath heron may not have any regular avian predator. Despite their ponderous movement .Goliath herons can think quickly and often take flight before mammalian carnivores such as hyenas or Jackals can predate them.

Peter K. Philip

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