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An Unexpected Bond

Sometimes wildlife in our care behaves in ways we don't expect.  When we took in a baby great blue heron from Gig Harbor this July, we decided to place him in the same enclosure with another heron -- an adult female.  This female heron had been attacked by an eagle in her nest, and her babies were killed.

We didn't know what would happen when we placed these two together, but, incredibly, the adult heron adopted the baby as her own.  Every day, he sat under her perch, in the same position baby herons take in the wild when their parents are perched on the edge of the nest.  When the adult heron ate, she would regurgitate her food and feed him, beak to beak.  We had hoped these two would form a bond and were delighted by the attachment they developed.  Later that summer, they were released into the wild together.

Read about the Great Blue Heron that "flew" to Arizona.