Great Blue Heron
Updated: Sep 13
The angular and stately Great Blue Heron tops my list of Five Finest Feathered Friends. I love to watch them wading in the ocean shallows, stalking their next meal. Of the nearly two hundred resident and part-time bird species in the Southern Gulf Islands, those that spend much of their time along the ocean shorelines, with their eyes on a meal, are the ones I enjoy seeing most.
The others on my Five Finest Feathered Friends list are: Bald Eagle • Turkey Vulture • Double-crested Cormorant • Black Oystercatcher.
Table of Contents
Photographs, videos, audio, and text Copyright © 2026 Richard Philpot/SGIOUTSIDE.ca.
Great Blue Heron having speared a fresh meal in the Thieves Bay shallows (North Pender Island).
Great Blue Heron—A captivating scene
The Great Blue Heron, angular and stately, can be found patiently wading in the ocean shallows, stalking its next meal. A lightning stab of its dagger-like bill captures its unsuspecting prey, which, if small, is then tossed in the air and swallowed whole. Large or spiky fish are passed back and forth through the heron’s bill with a scissor-like movement before being swallowed.
When disturbed, this unhurried hunter, with one casual boost from its long legs, rises almost straight up and, with a few strokes of its huge wings, casually transports itself to safety.
According to some Nuu-chah-nulth legends, the great blue heron first taught people to stand and have self-confidence because of its graceful demeanour.
“The great blue heron first taught people to stand and have self-confidence because of its graceful demeanour.”
According to some Nuu-chah-nulth legends.
Salish Heron
Since 2022, residents and visitors have had the pleasure of riding the environmentally responsible Salish Heron to and from four of our five main Southern Gulf Islands. The BC Ferries vessel sports colourful Great Blue Herons on her port and starboard sides. Indigenous artist Maynard Johnny Jr.’s portrayal of the birds with bright-yellow beaks and vibrant necks, wings, and tails is certainly attention-grabbing.
“Herons and my people once inhabited the area in what is now known as the town of Chemainus,” said Maynard Johnny Jr., from the Penelakut First Nation. “The majestic birds were once plentiful and provided the people guidance on where fish were in abundance. I have created a Salish Heron using traditional Salish design with contemporary colours that [are] my signature as a Coast Salish artist. The design reflects the long beak and long neck of a Great Blue Heron, and its wings, tail feathers and talons. I wanted to create a Salish Heron that was fascinating to the viewer and was obvious to the eye yet kept a flow of design and colour.”
First Nations elders describe the Great Blue Heron as representing “grace, purity, and patience, whose presence is a good omen.” It is said that the stately bird is “a provider, guiding our peoples to rich fishing grounds” and is characterized in Coast Salish legend as independent and resolute, keeping watch over orca communities.
See BC Ferries Our Fleet for information on each of the four liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fuelled Salish-class ferries: Salish Heron, Salish Raven, Salish Eagle, and Salish Orca.
Species profile: Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Category: Long-legged Wader.
Status: BC Conservation Data Centre (CDC): Blue (species is of concern of being lost).
Seasonal Abundance: Seen year-round along the British Columbia coast; 5,000-6,000 live in BC.
Range: Common resident of the BC Lower Mainland and the southern part of the province; southern Alaska to the Maritimes and south to South America.
Habitat: Ocean shorelines, estuaries and marshes, ponds, lakes, and rivers.
Description: Size—99-132 centimetres (approx. 39“-52”); wingspan—to 1.8 metres (6’); weigh 2-3 kilograms (approx. 4.5-6.5 lbs), hollow bones; blue-grey plumage, white head with black stripe above each eye, long yellow bill, a few feathers sticking out the back of their head, long S-shaped neck, and long, thin legs; adults display a “hairy-chest” and, in the breeding season, long plumes at the base of their neck.
Flight: Flies with its neck folded back against its body; unrushed, deep wingbeats.
Vision: Three times more comprehensive than humans, including the ability to instantly switch from macro to telescopic vision; excellent depth perception; can hunt at night due to a high number of photoreceptors.
Calls: Loud and harsh series of croaks (sounds like a long-winded fraannk, fraannk), occurs when flushed; occasionally cluck, moo, or snap their beaks; listen to Great Blue Heron sounds at Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds.
Diet: Solitary feeders; slowly, silently stalks its prey, spearing or grasping it with its long, sharp bill (uniquely shaped neck vertebrae allows lightening-fast strike); wide-ranging diet, primary fish prey species are sticklebacks, gunnels, sculpins, and perch (up to 30 cm/12” long), also crayfish, crabs, frogs, insects, snakes and rodents, and small birds; too-big prey can result in choking to death; rodents are swallowed whole (bones digested, fur spit up in pellets).
Nesting: Group in a heronry or colony, building shallow, stick nests lined with finer material in dying or dead trees 20-50 metres (approx. 65’-165’) above the ground, where they are safe from most predators; one tree may host multiple nests; move on to a new site after a year or two; nests may be added to and used for many years, but not normally by the same herons; occasionally builds a concealed nest on the ground or in a reedbed.
Reproduction: Lay 2-7 pale greenish-blue eggs over five days in April or May, hatching in 25-30 days; young birds can fly within two months; youngsters separate from their parents in late summer; intense competition for food may result in one or more chicks dying of starvation or being forced off the nest.
Life Expectancy: Up to 23 years old.
Stressors & Threats: Up to 75 percent of young herons won’t survive their first year; chicks are especially vulnerable to eagles, hawks, other predatory birds, and raccoons; human development and disturbance around their nesting and feeding sites.
My Other Favourite Finest Feathered Friends (left to right): Turkey Vulture • Cormorants • Black Oystercatcher • Bald Eagle
Turkey Vulture 
Double-crested Cormorants 
Black Oystercatchers 
Bald Eagle
Birding in the SGI
The climate and location of the Southern Gulf Islands make the area an important year-round residence, a winter destination, and a migratory flyway. Mid-April to mid-May is the ideal time for birding, when winter and summer birds overlap, though there are plenty to see year-round. A field guide, a smartphone bird app like Merlin, and binoculars are necessities. A spotting scope is even better for viewing raptors, like Bald Eagles and water and shorebirds. Of the hundreds of bird species to be sighted in the SGI, not all are common to all islands.
In addition to my Five Finest Feathered Friends, birders can look forward to sightings of Belted Kingfishers, Common Ravens, Rufous Hummingbirds, Pileated Woodpeckers, California Quail, Trumpeter Swans, Pacific Loons, and a great many other shorebirds and songbirds. See the eBird: Bird Lists by SGI locations (below) for extensive inventories of species seen in various places.
Birding ethics: So that no harm comes to the birds or the environment
Three things to keep in mind when observing our feathered friends.
Keep your distance. As exciting as it is to get “this close” to a particular bird or a nest, remember that if you’re so close that the bird leaves, you’re too close. The bird will fly to safety, and may do so at the risk of leaving eggs or chicks unprotected from predators. I have unwittingly caused too many birds to take flight in the past and now adhere to a 100-metre rule. With binoculars, I can see the bird clearly from 100 metres as it goes about its normal routine. Keeping your distance also applies to your dog; please don’t let your four-legged friend take chase.
Leave no trace. Do your best not to damage the bird’s natural environment. Remove everything that you bring with you. Leaving garbage, in particular picnic food scraps, may attract predators. Please DO NOT feed wild birds.
Let nature be. A bird may appear abandoned or in distress, but probably isn’t. Young birds on the ground likely are learning to fly. Don’t worry; a parent is undoubtedly close by and will return as soon as you leave. Even a bird that appears injured or dead may not be. If it’s a hummingbird, it may be in a state of torpor—a dormant, inactive state of hibernation (in other words, this high-energy bird is simply resting). If you are certain a bird is injured, contact a local veterinarian or recognized wildlife rescue organization before touching or moving it.
Great Blue Heron launching into flight, “fraannk, fraannking” as it departs (100506).
Good locations in the SGI to see a Great Blue Heron*
Along the South Pender Island shoreline (Around South Pender Island, Bedwell Harbour circle tour, Brooks Point Regional Park), East Point Whale Trail/East Point Regional Park (Saturna Island), Gray Point Trail/Montague Harbour Marine Park (Galiano Island), Portland Island/Arbutus Point (Inner Gulf Islands), Sidney Spit/Sidney Island (Inner Gulf Islands), St. John Point Regional Park (Mayne Island), any SGI marina.
*It’s common to see a Great Blue Heron just offshore, standing atop Bull Kelp, eyeing a meal.
*eBird: Bird Lists by SGI locations highlighted in SGI Outside
The side menu in the linked eBird Bird Lists lets you view the Iconic Birds of that location and the best time to see them. eBird: Bird Lists are constantly evolving (SGI Outside regularly updates the number shown below).
See the eBird Hotspot Map for the Southern Gulf Islands.
North Pender Island
George Hill Park (GINPR): 99 species seen since 2017 (eBird)
Medicine Beach Nature Sanctuary—138 species since 2013 (eBird)
Mount Menzies (GINPR): 34 species seen since 2022 (eBird)
Roe Islet Trail, Roesland (GINPR): 101 species seen since 2015 (eBird)
South Pender Island
Beaumont Marine Park (GINPR): 80 species since 1989 (eBird)
Brooks Point Regional Park (CRD): 155 species since 1998 (eBird)
Greenburn Lake (GINPR): 110 species since 2004 (eBird)
Mount Norman Summit (GINPR): 89 species since 2007 (eBird)
Salt Spring Island
Mount Maxwell Park (BC Parks): 88 species since 1996 (eBird)
Mount Erskine Park (BC Parks): 75 species since 2015 (eBird)
Reginald Hill (SSIPARC/CRD): 57 species since 2023 (eBird)
Ruckle Park (BC Parks): 155 species since 1979 (eBird)
W̱EN,NÁ,NEĆ Tsawout First Nations Trail: 63 species since 2024 (eBird)
Mayne Island
Campbell Point (GINPR)/Bennett Bay: 140 species since 2018 (eBird)
Georgina Point Heritage Park & Lighthouse (GINPR): 98 species since 2003 (eBird)
Mount Parke (CRD): 81 species seen since 1996 (eBird)
St. John Point Regional Park (CRD): 64 species seen since 2023 (eBird)
Saturna Island
Xwiwxwyus (kwik-wi-us)/Winter Cove (GINPR): 143 species since 1973 (eBird)
Brown Ridge (GINPR/Campbell Farm): 88 species since 1973 (eBird)
East Point Whale Trail/East Point Regional Park (GINPR/CRD): 164 species since 1989 (eBird)
Narvaez Bay (GINPR): 107 species since 2013 (eBird)
Galiano Island
Bellhouse Park (BC Parks): 105 species since 2007 (eBird)
Gray Point Trail/Montague Harbour Marine Park (BC Parks): 129 species since 1970 (eBird)
Mount Galiano Nature Preserve: 68 species since 2005 (eBird)
Matthews Point Regional Park (CRD): 79 species since 2010 (eBird)
The Viewpoint Trail/The Bluffs (Galiano Club & GIPRC): 102 species seen since 1990 (eBird)
Inner Gulf Islands
Portland Island (GINPR): 134 species since 2002 (eBird)
Russell Island (GINPR): 80 species since 2009 (eBird)
Isle-de-Lis/Rum Island Trail (GINPR): 67 species since 2015 (eBird)
Mandarte Island bird research station (IBA Canada site): 107 species since 1960 (eBird)
CRD - Capital Regional District, GINPR - Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, PIPRC - Pender Islands Parks & Recreation Commission, SSIPARC - Salt Spring Island Parks, Arts, Recreation & Culture, MIPRC - Mayne Island Parks & Recreation Commission, SIPRC - Saturna Island Parks & Recreation Commission, GIPRC - Galiano Island Parks & Recreation Commission.
Counting Birds in the SGI for the National Audubon Society Bird Count
Excerpt from A 2025 Christmas Bird Count Full of Surprises
“The official Audubon count area that contains the Mayne Island count includes Saturna, North Pender, and South Pender islands. The official list submitted for our count area is a compilation of counts from each of these islands. For this year’s count the four islands tallied 91 species and 9,838 individual birds. Collectively we had 118 birders out on count day who logged just over 187 hours (this includes feeder counters) and 229 kilometres on foot, by car, or by boat to observe birds.”
Great Blue Heron Resources (and great pictures, videos, audio)
British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas: Great Blue Heron
Sierra Club BC: Great Blue Heron
BRITISH COLUMBIA’S Wildlife at Risk: The Great Blue Heron
Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds: Great Blue Heron
Birds of Southwestern British Columbia (7th printing) by Richard Cannings • Paperback • $19.95 • 432 pages • Harbour Publishing, 2008. Covers more than 200 bird species in a handy, portable guide; aimed at beginning and intermediate birders.
Merlin • Merlin is a smartphone bird app created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; it provides birders with the ability to Identify Bird Songs and Calls, Identify Birds in a Photo, Save Birds to Your Life List, and Explore Lists of Birds Near You using your cell phone. Watch the See How Merlin Can Help You ID Birds demo video below for an introduction to this amazing bird-ID assist tool.
