Heron, Crane, or Stork?

We have some cool birds around here in Long Beach. There's the ocean right here as well as an estuary, or the remnants of one trying to be reclaimed by well-meaning science folks. I think birds are cool, anyway.

On walks sometimes you see these great big majestic things, standing nearly five feet tall they hang around in the rocky shallows sniping fish. It got me thinking: are they herons or cranes? And what's the difference really?

That got me thinking about those birds in general, the tall, flying birds, egrets, herons, cranes, and storks...I needed some clarification.

Storks are the easiest to spot. They are, eh, the ugliest? Their beaks are monstrous and look ripped from the fossil record. Many storks don't have the ability to call or sing, and for them the clacking of their beaks is how they auditorily communicate.

Flamingos are recognizable, so they were off the list. Same with the scoop bill or curved bills of special case large flying birds. Also, it turns out, that egrets are a kind of heron.

This led the investigation to the discussion between herons and cranes. I was trying to find out which one of these majestic beasts are visible on a weekly basis in and around our tiny spit of Long Beach.

Well, there are only two types of cranes that grace the US, and one is the most critically endangered bird on most lists: the whooping crane. The whoopers are found in either Texas or the Dakotas, are the tallest flying bird in the world, and are wary of human action. Not likely what I'm seeing around here. Also, I know what they look like: mostly white with some red face markings.

The birds I'm curious about are slate blue/gray. That turned out to be the great give-away---the color. The most common large flying bird that's not a raptor or pelican in the US is the great gray heron.

They successfully make a living along most of the coastline America has to offer. They are beautiful in person and don't scare too easy.

In general, and I'm not really a bird watcher per se, cranes have shorter beaks and don't curve their necks when they fly. Neck position is another giveaway for the heron/crane discussion. The picture above, the heron, chills with its neck curved, while the cranes below are a little more stretched. This isn't always the case with the heron, but it's good to know.

This is the most beautiful stork you may ever see. Usually they're nightmare-inducing vacant-eyed-staring you into submission:

This led to another, tangentially related discussion about geese vs swans that Corrie and I had. It was too small to relate individually, but I put it here because it seems more, eh, natural? Geese and swans are the largest animals in the duck family, with swans being the largest. Their necks are far longer than the goose. A goose is like a big, long-necks duck, while the swan is like that for the goose---bigger and longer-necked.

(Photos ripped from other sources. Thanks!)