Great Blue Heron

Ardea herodias

Family: Ardeidae

This is a rare visitor to the Monument.  The Great Blue Heron is very water dependent.  Its habitat is the shallow waters of marshes, ponds, lakes and tidal flats, even backyard pools and ponds.  It wades through the shallows looking primarily for fish, but it also eats a variety of foods from small mammals to insects to other birds.  The habitat of the Monument is not suited to Great Blue Herons.  They live in the Black Hills but mostly around the artificially created lakes or seasonal marshes found throughout the Black Hills.  They can also be spotted raiding backyard ponds that are stocked with fish.