Long-necked Long-legged Sandhill Cranes. Red eyemask. Sandhill cranes inhabit wetlands. They eat muck. Sandhill cranes winter inland and summer in marshes. Long windpipe produces trumpet sound.
Spoonbills are fascinating swamp birds. Only America has roseate spoonbills. Named for its pink feathers and spoon-shaped beak. Spoonbills filter insects from muddy marsh water with their bills.
Marshes have several great blue herons. They're important for swamps. Herons eat fish, amphibians, and marsh animals. Great blue herons have long necks and legs to navigate across shallow marsh water.
Swamp-dwelling osprey. Hawk-like. Ospreys consume a variety of fish. It eats fish and seabirds. Ospreys dive feet-first to grab fish with their hooked talons. Ospreys can dive from 100 ft and hit the ocean at 50 mph.
The great egret is smaller than the great blue heron. Great egrets seek for fish in swamps. They wade or stand stationary in shallow water to hunt. Great egrets nest with other coastal and wetland birds.
Named after its voice, the whooping crane. Biggest and most vulnerable bird in the US. Crane breed in Canada in summertime and Texas in winter. Long tracheas make whooping cranes' bugle sound.
The American bittern is a heron that lives in shallow marshes and swamps. Bitterns are cautious, secretive swamp birds that hunt in tall grass. They rarely fly openly. Bitterns have a clack-and-gulp call.
Ibises hunt in wetlands with their bent bills. Ibises nest in trees near shorelines and wetlands and eat in shallow water in large colonies. Moving annually. White Ibis dig for insects around wetlands and marshes.
Herons like marshes. In vegetation, they slump. Their green feathers prefer coasts and shallows. Long neck, legs, and bill help the green heron spear fish. They eat insects and sticks.