 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Atlas results coming soon
Note: During all years of the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas drought conditions persisted and the Atlas range maps for all waterfowl, waterbirds, and wetland-associated species should be viewed as characteristic of distribution and abundance during dry conditions. Read the full drought statement here.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
The Great Blue Heron is easily recognized by its size, standing 1.3 m tall on long legs, with blue-grey plumage and solitary habits. Great Blues habitually feed on fish, a wide variety of amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates, and, less commonly, upland prey like small mammals. This most widespread North American heron nests from southeastern Alaska, central Saskatchewan, and the Maritimes south through the US to southern Mexico and Cuba. It winters from southeastern Alaska and extreme southern Canada to northern South America (AOU 1998).
Great Blue Herons use wetlands of all types and sizes, and are often seen wading along creeks, rivers, and the shores of wetlands. They are attracted to waters below man-made structures where fish and other prey concentrate. At breeding colonies and when roosting, they perch high in trees.
Great Blue Herons are fairly common summer residents, widespread south of the Precambrian Shield (Smith 1996). The northernmost colonies are at Churchill, Kazan, Doré, Lavallée, Montreal, Suggi, and Cumberland Lakes, with a single nest at Lac la Ronge in 1999 (Hanson and Smith 2000, SBDB). Nest totals and colony size in the province declined significantly from 830 nests in 1970 to 387 in 1999 and from a mean of 26.8 nests per colony in 1970 (Vermeer and Anweiler 1970) to 10.9 in 1999 (Hanson and Smith 2000).
Original text by Philip S. Taylor. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Great Blue Heron in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Great Blue Heron in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=GBHE&lang=en [09 Nov 2025]
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