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Great Blue Heron I didn't want a complicated, colorful background to compete with this large, bluish-grey wading bird. So I started with a wet-in-wet wash (wet paper and a watery paintbrush) of the predominant colors in the bird's plumage (Payne's grey and burnt sienna). Then painted the bird in detail when the paper was dry with fine-tipped brushes. The result was a simple presentation, the focus of which is this stately bird. The Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, is the largest North American heron, with a head-to-tail length of 36-55 inches, a wingspan up to 79 inches, and a weight up to 8 lbs. It is bluish gray, with black 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. Adults at the start of the breeding season also have plumes on the lower back, their normally dull yellowish bill becomes orange, and their lower gray legs turn orangey color. Immature birds are duller in color, with a dull blackish-gray crown, the flank pattern only weakly defined, no plumes, and a dull gray-yellow bill. Great Blues are common over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. They are rare vagrants to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England. The original watercolor is in a private collection but limited edition prints and note cards are available. Click here for availability and price.