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heron
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Heron
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Large to medium-sized wading bird belonging to the same family as bitterns, egrets, night herons, and boatbills. Herons have sharp bills, broad wings, long legs, slender bodies, and soft plumage. They are found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions, but also in temperate zones, on lakes, fens, and mudflats, where they wade searching for prey. (Genera include Ardea, Butorides, and Nycticorax; family Ardeidae, order Ciconiiformes.)
They capture small animals, such as fish, molluscs, and worms, by spearing them with their long bills. Herons nest in trees or bushes, on ivy-covered rocks, or in reedbeds, making a loose fabric of sticks lined with grass or leaves; they lay greenish or drab-coloured eggs, varying in number from two to seven according to the different species.
© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.
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