WATCH THE WINGBEATS

The flight style of larger birds (which these long-necked species are) tend to be steady, powerful and direct. However, there are subtle differences in flight style between the different types of birds. Herons as a whole have flexible arched wings in flight, like children’s drawings of ‘seagulls’. However, larger birds, such as Cranes, have a much stiffer winged flight style, so a distant flying Crane is more reminiscent of a swan in flight than a heron. Even among the herons, there are slight differences which are worth looking out for. A classic example of this is the difference between Little and Great White Egrets. Little Egrets are much smaller birds and have a much quicker wingbeat cadence. Great Whites are roughly the size of Grey Herons and look strikingly huge and languid in flight, with slow wingbeats.