# Can anyone ID this bird?



## WinAZ (Nov 13, 2022)

Spotted in Northern Arizona on a riverbank. TIA


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## Gary O' (Nov 13, 2022)

Egret?

Crane?

Pelican?
Looks like a bit of a gular pouch 
Not pronounced, but there...seems


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## Warrigal (Nov 13, 2022)

Egret of some kind would be my guess.


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## SeniorBen (Nov 14, 2022)

That bird is Gregory Illinivich, if I'm not mistaken.


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## Murrmurr (Nov 14, 2022)

That looks like a Blue Heron! But I just read about 2 weeks ago that they're extinct. But it sure looks like one, though. 
Which is exciting because they were my favorite bird when I was a kid.

If not a Blue, my guess is it's some type of Heron.


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## Murrmurr (Nov 14, 2022)

Here's a pic of a _Great_ Blue Heron


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## Alligatorob (Nov 14, 2022)

It does look like a great blue heron, but I am no expert.


Murrmurr said:


> But I just read about 2 weeks ago that they're extinct.


Not the great blue, they are doing well, and Arizona is within their range.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_blue_heron


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## Judycat (Nov 14, 2022)

What color were the legs?


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## Capt Lightning (Nov 14, 2022)

I'm not sure how widespread these birds are, but it looks like a grey heron.  They're common in the UK - anywhere there's water.


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## Lee (Nov 14, 2022)

Truly magnificent birds. Had one come up from below the water right next to the boat once. Scared the you know what out of me.

This was at Rice Lake in Ontario, not common to see up close but certainly not extinct.


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## Murrmurr (Nov 14, 2022)

Alligatorob said:


> It does look like a great blue heron, but I am no expert.
> 
> Not the great blue, they are doing well, and Arizona is within their range.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_blue_heron


I wish I could remember where I read that....or heard it. I'm thinking it was on an archeological site.
In any case, they had to have been talking about some other heron. And the OP's pic looks like one to me. The "beard" looks small but maybe it's a juvenile, or maybe it's just lying flat to the breast.


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## Murrmurr (Nov 14, 2022)

Lee said:


> Truly magnificent birds. Had one come up from below the water right next to the boat once. Scared the you know what out of me.
> 
> This was at Rice Lake in Ontario, not common to see up close but certainly not extinct.


A Blue Heron? Awesome! I wonder if they're endangered.

I saw one at the Sacramento Zoo when I was a little kid, and I couldn't have been more than 3 y/o because it was (or seemed) about my size. It stood about 5 feet away from me, in this fenced area with a pond. It took a few slow steps toward me and, could have just been my kid-brain, but that bird seemed to look directly into my eyes, and I'm not kidding, it felt like it was saying a million things. And I fell in love with it....felt like it was my friend. I was all upset when my gramma said we had to move on.


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## CarolfromTX (Nov 17, 2022)

Blue heron for sure.


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## Chet (Nov 17, 2022)

To get that close for a picture, the bird may not be well.


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## Lee (Nov 17, 2022)

Murmur I wonder if the bird you are thinking of might have been an ivory billed woodpecker, They have the same face shape sort of and are listed as extinct but some claim to have sighting them


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## Murrmurr (Nov 17, 2022)

Lee said:


> Murmur I wonder if the bird you are thinking of might have been an ivory billed woodpecker, They have the same face shape sort of and are listed as extinct but some claim to have sighting them


No, it was a Blue Heron. I saw it at a zoo when I was a tot. I went on and on about that bird so much, my gramma bought me a book about them. I treasured that book. Looked through it every day, carried it with me all day long, slept with it...

Jeez, what a doofy kid.


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## leastlongprime (Nov 20, 2022)

blue heron. 
not endangered.
they hunt by patience and they excellent in catching rats, mice, moles, gophers besides aquatic life. 
somewhat migratory. Semi permanent in the Willamette Valley and Western Washington.


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## Muskrat (Nov 21, 2022)

My guess is lees ferry and a blur heron


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## Kaila (Nov 21, 2022)

Lee said:


> Truly magnificent birds. Had one come up from below the water right next to the boat once. Scared the you know what out of me.
> 
> This was at Rice Lake in Ontario, not common to see up close but certainly not extinct.


Are you totally sure about that reasoning, Lee?
That they are not extinct because you saw one? 
We won't ask how ancient you might possibly be.


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## WinAZ (Nov 22, 2022)

Chet said:


> To get that close for a picture, the bird may not be well.


Zoomed in. We were standing on the opposite side of the river.


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## WinAZ (Nov 22, 2022)

Muskrat said:


> My guess is lees ferry and a blur heron


Good guess, but not Lee's Ferry. Verde River in Cottonwood, AZ.


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## JustDave (Nov 22, 2022)

Blur Heron.  I love that.


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## Jules (Nov 22, 2022)

We have Blue Herons in BC in the warm weather.  They’re not endangered, but are vulnerable.  


> Because of the Great Blue Heron's sensitivity to human activity and its declining population, it has been placed on *B.C.'s Blue List of vulnerable species*. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has designated the Pacific Great Blue Heron as Vulnerable


@Murrmurr, maybe you read something like this.


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