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  Profile

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  In flight

Cranes & Waders

Purple Heron

Ardea purpurea

• rare
• 55 km/h
• Least Concern

Slimmer and more secretive than its gray cousin, vanishing among the reeds before you finish a breath. The reedbed's ghost-spear hunter.

Population

approximately 270,000 to 570,000 mature individuals

Habitat

dense reedbeds, swamps, lake margins, vegetated freshwater wetlands

Diet

fish, frogs, large insects, small mammals, reptiles

Size

0.88 m

Wingspan

1.35 m