Heron
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Lev. 11:19)—a large, long-legged water bird included among the birds Israel was not to eat. Herons frequent rivers, lakes, marshes, and coasts. They feed chiefly on fish but also take frogs, insects, worms, and small animals. Many species migrate, nest in colonies in trees or reed beds, and lay several blue-green eggs. They can reduce fish stocks locally while also consuming insects and other small creatures. The source’s natural-history description reflects nineteenth-century zoology and should not be treated as identifying the exact Hebrew species with certainty.