Scientific name: Ardea novaehollandiae
These tall pale grey birds with a white face and neck extended, often wrongly called a blue crane, are a familiar site around the area, any where there is a body of water or damp area. At Belongil it may be on the beach or the inner estuary, they are always at the West Byron Wetlands. Other places they maybe seen slowly stalking their prey include golf courses, roadside drains, along a rivers edge or creek or around farmlands and dams, other tidal areas or even perched on a fence post.
They build an untidy nest high in a tree and not always near water, young chicks have been seen in the lower Belongil estuary but they most likely breed all over the area during the months of September to November.