[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":261},["ShallowReactive",2],{"families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye":3,"alt-locale:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye":116,"section-listing:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva":117,"section-listing:disabled":254,"related-covers:en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye|\u002Fsemeystva|\u002Fopredelitel":255},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"coverImage":76,"description":77,"extension":78,"faq":79,"imagePrompt":89,"latinName":20,"meta":90,"navigation":91,"order":92,"pageType":93,"path":94,"publishedAt":95,"readingMinutes":96,"relatedLinks":97,"seo":110,"sitemap":113,"stem":114,"taxonRank":93,"updatedAt":92,"__hash__":115},"families_en\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye.md","Herons (Ardeidae)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":68},"minimark",[9,14,22,25,29,36,39,43,57,61],[10,11,13],"h2",{"id":12},"what-makes-ardeidae-a-family","What makes Ardeidae a family",[15,16,17,21],"p",{},[18,19,20],"strong",{},"Ardeidae",", the heron family, comprises around 65 species of long-legged wading birds found across most of the world, unified by a distinctive flexible neck with a specialized kink that allows a sudden, whip-like strike, a long, straight, dagger-like bill adapted to seizing fish and other prey rather than spearing it, and a patient, largely stationary hunting style built around stillness rather than active pursuit. Most species favor shallow water habitats, where prey can be spotted and struck at close range with minimal disturbance.",[15,23,24],{},"A key behavioral hallmark of the family is the near-universal habit of standing motionless, or moving with extremely slow, deliberate steps, while hunting, relying on the neck's specialized striking mechanism to close the final gap on prey far faster than the bird's normal movements would suggest, a strategy shared across the great majority of heron species regardless of size or specific habitat.",[10,26,28],{"id":27},"distinctive-traits-across-the-family","Distinctive traits across the family",[15,30,31,32,35],{},"The grey heron, the sole species covered so far in this atlas, illustrates several traits shared broadly across the family: pale, subdued plumage well suited to blending into wetland vegetation and water reflections, a strongly patient, largely solitary hunting style outside the breeding season, and colonial nesting in dense treetop ",[18,33,34],{},"heronries"," that can persist at the same traditional site for generations, sometimes shared with other heron species where their ranges overlap.",[15,37,38],{},"Flight posture remains one of the clearest family-wide identification traits: herons habitually fold the neck back into a compact S-shape in flight, a resting posture distinct from the forward-extended neck of the unrelated storks and cranes that sometimes share the same open wetland habitat.",[10,40,42],{"id":41},"species-in-this-family","Species in this family",[15,44,45,46,51,52,56],{},"This atlas currently covers one member of Ardeidae: the ",[47,48,50],"a",{"href":49},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fseraya-tsaplya","grey heron"," (",[53,54,55],"em",{},"Ardea cinerea","), a tall, statuesque hunter widespread across rivers, lakes, and marshes throughout Europe and Russia, known for its lightning-fast strike on fish after long periods of complete stillness. Further Ardeidae species native to the atlas's covered regions will be added to the catalogue over time.",[10,58,60],{"id":59},"where-and-when-to-watch-this-family","Where and when to watch this family",[15,62,63,64,67],{},"Rivers, lakes, marshes, reservoirs, and coastal shallows are the most reliable places to find this family, with herons frequently visible even in urban parks and canals wherever shallow water with fish is present. Because populations across this family range from fully resident to substantially migratory depending on climate, the best viewing window varies by region, though ",[18,65,66],{},"spring through autumn"," generally offers the widest and most consistent presence across the atlas's covered areas.",{"title":69,"searchDepth":70,"depth":70,"links":71},"",2,[72,73,74,75],{"id":12,"depth":70,"text":13},{"id":27,"depth":70,"text":28},{"id":41,"depth":70,"text":42},{"id":59,"depth":70,"text":60},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye.png","The heron family: patient, statuesque wetland hunters with a coiled S-shaped neck and dagger-like bill, epitomized by the grey heron's motionless watch at the water's edge.","md",[80,83,86],{"q":81,"a":82},"What physical traits define the heron family?","Ardeidae species share long legs suited to wading in shallow water, a long, flexible neck with a specialized kink formed by elongated vertebrae that allows a sudden whip-like strike, and a long, straight, dagger-like bill adapted for seizing rather than spearing prey, together with broad wings and a slow, deep-beating flight style built for energy-efficient movement between feeding and roosting sites.",{"q":84,"a":85},"Why do herons fold their necks back in flight while storks extend theirs forward?","The distinction reflects genuine anatomical differences between the two unrelated families: herons habitually tuck the neck back into a compact S-shape both at rest and in flight as their more typical resting posture, while storks and cranes hold the neck extended, making flight-neck posture one of the single most reliable field marks for separating these superficially similar large wading birds at a distance.",{"q":87,"a":88},"Why do so many heron species nest in colonies called heronries?","Colonial nesting in dense stands of tall trees offers herons some collective safety in numbers against predators and reduces the cost of scouting for scarce suitable nest sites individually, even though adult herons themselves generally hunt alone and can be markedly territorial over their own preferred stretch of shoreline outside the breeding season.","Photorealistic wildlife photography, a grey heron standing motionless in shallow water at the edge of a reed bed, neck coiled into an S-shape, pale grey back, white head with a black stripe and wispy nape plumes, dagger-like yellow bill, sharp focus on the eye, soft-focus background of still water with early morning mist and blurred reeds, soft diffused dawn light, shallow depth of field, telephoto lens compression, 16:9",{},true,null,"family","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye","13.07.2026",1,[98,102,106],{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101},"Storks (Ciconiidae)","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye","Another large long-legged wading bird family, often confused with herons",{"label":103,"path":104,"description":105},"Bird families","\u002Fsemeystva","Species grouped by taxonomic family",{"label":107,"path":108,"description":109},"Bird identifier","\u002Fopredelitel","Identify a bird you've seen by color, size, beak shape, habitat, and season",{"title":111,"description":112},"Herons (Ardeidae) — traits and species","Ardeidae, the heron family: patient wetland hunters with a coiled neck and dagger-like bill. Traits, hunting behavior, and species covered in the atlas.",{"loc":94},"semeystva\u002Ftsaplevye","z85T0RL8HMn8Bzn3-D2NkonnJJRBxJIGwz8MQimLiY0",{"ru":91,"es":91},[118,123,128,133,138,143,149,154,159,160,165,170,175,180,185,190,195,201,206,209,214,219,224,229,234,239,244,249],{"title":119,"description":120,"path":121,"coverImage":122,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Buntings (Emberizidae)","The bunting family: sturdy, seed-eating farmland and open-country songbirds represented here by the vividly yellow-headed yellowhammer, one of Europe's most familiar hedgerow singers.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye.png",{"title":124,"description":125,"path":126,"coverImage":127,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Crows, Ravens, and Allies (Corvidae)","The crow family: some of the most intelligent birds on Earth, from the tiny, sociable jackdaw to the giant common raven, united by cognitive sophistication and remarkable behavioral flexibility.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye.png",{"title":129,"description":130,"path":131,"coverImage":132,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Cuckoos (Cuculidae)","The cuckoo family: slender, long-tailed birds best known for the common cuckoo's remarkable brood-parasitic lifestyle, tricking other species into raising its young.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye.png",{"title":134,"description":135,"path":136,"coverImage":137,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Falcons (Falconidae)","The falcon family: fast, direct-flying birds of prey with a distinctive hooked, tomial-toothed beak, found on every continent except Antarctica.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye.png",{"title":139,"description":140,"path":141,"coverImage":142,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Finches (Fringillidae)","The true finch family: small, seed-eating songbirds with conical beaks ranging from the everyday chaffinch to the specialized, cone-prying red crossbill.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye.png",{"title":144,"description":145,"path":146,"coverImage":147,"publishedAt":148,"order":92},"Grebes (Podicipedidae)","The grebe family: highly specialized freshwater diving birds with lobed toes, elaborate courtship displays, and chicks that ride on their parents' backs while swimming.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye.png","07.08.2026",{"title":150,"description":151,"path":152,"coverImage":153,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Gulls (Laridae)","The gull family: adaptable, highly social waterbirds ranging from the small, brown-hooded black-headed gull to the larger, plain-billed common gull, equally at home on coasts and inland waters.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye.png",{"title":155,"description":156,"path":157,"coverImage":158,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Hawks, Eagles, and Kites (Accipitridae)","The largest family of diurnal birds of prey, spanning soaring buzzards, forest-hunting goshawks, massive fish eagles, and scavenging kites united by a hooked beak and taloned feet.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye.png",{"title":5,"description":77,"path":94,"coverImage":76,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},{"title":161,"description":162,"path":163,"coverImage":164,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Hoopoes (Upupidae)","A small family built around a single unmistakable species, the Eurasian hoopoe, known for its fan-like crest, curved probing beak, and unusual glandular nest defenses.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye.png",{"title":166,"description":167,"path":168,"coverImage":169,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Larks (Alaudidae)","The lark family: streaked, ground-nesting birds of open farmland and grassland, best known for the extraordinary sustained soaring song-flight of the Eurasian skylark.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye.png",{"title":171,"description":172,"path":173,"coverImage":174,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)","A family spanning the beloved orange-breasted robin, the vocally legendary nightingale, and the acrobatic pied flycatcher, unified more by ancestry and insect-catching habits than by appearance.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye.png",{"title":176,"description":177,"path":178,"coverImage":179,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Old World Orioles (Oriolidae)","A family of brilliantly colored but famously shy canopy songbirds, represented in Europe by the golden oriole, a bird more often identified by its fluting song than by sight.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye.png",{"title":181,"description":182,"path":183,"coverImage":184,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)","The Old World sparrow family: small, sociable, seed-eating birds closely tied to human settlement, from the familiar house sparrow to its quieter, farmland-favoring relative the tree sparrow.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye.png",{"title":186,"description":187,"path":188,"coverImage":189,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae)","The pigeon family: stout-bodied, small-headed birds fed on crop milk as chicks, spanning the city-adapted rock dove and wood pigeon to the increasingly rare, long-distance migrant turtle dove.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye.png",{"title":191,"description":192,"path":193,"coverImage":194,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Plovers and Lapwings (Charadriidae)","The plover family: compact, large-eyed waders with short bills adapted for visual foraging, from the crested, iridescent northern lapwing to its smaller and plainer relatives.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye.png",{"title":196,"description":197,"path":198,"coverImage":199,"publishedAt":200,"order":92},"Rails, Crakes, and Coots (Rallidae)","The rail family: laterally flattened marsh specialists built for slipping through dense reed beds, ranging from the secretive corncrake to the bold, aggressive Eurasian coot.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye.png","17.08.2026",{"title":202,"description":203,"path":204,"coverImage":205,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Starlings (Sturnidae)","The starling family: gregarious, iridescent, highly vocal songbirds represented in Europe by the common starling and its spectacular winter murmurations.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye.png",{"title":99,"description":207,"path":100,"coverImage":208,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"The stork family: massive, long-legged wading birds with long straight bills, epitomized by the white stork's huge rooftop nests and dramatic overland migration to Africa.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye.png",{"title":210,"description":211,"path":212,"coverImage":213,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)","The swallow family: sleek, long-winged aerial insect-hunters that spend most of their waking lives on the wing, from the red-throated barn swallow to the white-rumped house martin.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye.png",{"title":215,"description":216,"path":217,"coverImage":218,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Swifts (Apodidae)","The swift family: extreme aerial specialists that spend nearly their entire lives in flight, closer in ancestry to hummingbirds than to the swallows they superficially resemble.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye.png",{"title":220,"description":221,"path":222,"coverImage":223,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Sylvia Warblers (Sylviidae)","A family of small, plainly plumaged, densely-vegetation-loving warblers prized far more for their voices than their looks, exemplified by the richly singing Eurasian blackcap.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye.png",{"title":225,"description":226,"path":227,"coverImage":228,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Thrushes (Turdidae)","The thrush family: medium-sized, powerful-singing ground foragers, from the glossy black common blackbird to the heavily spotted song thrush and the gregarious, flocking fieldfare.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye.png",{"title":230,"description":231,"path":232,"coverImage":233,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Tits (Paridae)","The tit family: small, acrobatic, cavity-nesting songbirds from the bold, dominant great tit to the tiny, cache-obsessed coal tit, among the most familiar and intensively studied garden birds in Europe.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye.png",{"title":235,"description":236,"path":237,"coverImage":238,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Typical Owls (Strigidae)","The largest owl family, spanning the familiar tawny owl, tufted long-eared owl, and the giant Eurasian eagle-owl, united by forward-facing eyes, silent flight, and mostly nocturnal habits.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye.png",{"title":240,"description":241,"path":242,"coverImage":243,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)","A family of slender, long-tailed, ground-foraging songbirds best exemplified by the constantly tail-bobbing white wagtail, equally at home beside a river or in a busy town square.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye.png",{"title":245,"description":246,"path":247,"coverImage":248,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Waterfowl (Anatidae)","The waterfowl family: ducks, geese, and swans, unified by webbed feet, waterproof plumage, and a broad flattened bill, from the familiar mallard to the massive mute swan.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye.png",{"title":250,"description":251,"path":252,"coverImage":253,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Woodpeckers (Picidae)","The woodpecker family: powerful, tree-climbing excavators built to hammer into wood, from the widespread black-and-white great spotted woodpecker to the crow-sized black woodpecker.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye.png",[],[256,257,259],{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101,"coverImage":208},{"label":103,"path":104,"description":105,"coverImage":258},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Findex.png",{"label":107,"path":108,"description":109,"coverImage":260},"\u002Fimages\u002Fopredelitel\u002Findex.png",1787114562266]