Great Blue Heron Postcard

This postcard features the Great Blue Heron, a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands. He is the largest North American heron. Notable features include slaty flight feathers, red-brown thighs, and a paired red-brown and black stripe up the flanks; the neck is rusty-gray, with black and white streaking down the front; the head is paler, with a nearly white face, and a pair of black plumes running from just above the eye to the back of the head. The feathers on the lower neck are long and plume-like. Because this is the breeding season, he also has plumes on the lower back and an orange bill. He is standing in shallow water and his feathers are backlit by the luminous sunlight.