Why does the heron stand on one leg? As a child, every curious kid asked his parents this question. However, many adults are also interested in this avian feature. After all, many years have passed since kindergarten, and mother's or father's answer has long been forgotten.
Scientists ornithologists, studying the behavior of the heron in the natural environment, came to several conclusions at once as to why this bird stands on one leg. And there can be no exact and unique answer to this question. All versions have the right to life, each of them is correct in its own way. Herons are birds that live in shallow water. Most often, standing on one leg in a pond, they hunt. And they pull the other paw to the body, so as not to frighten off small fish and frogs. The foolish inhabitants of a pond or lake mistake the bird's limb for a stick or a reed stalk. They are not at all afraid of her and swim up to the heron at a distance sufficient for the bird to make a throw. And, of course, they turn out to be eaten. The second version of scientists - the heron thus warms the limbs. That is, it does not always stand on the same leg, but changes them as one paw freezes and the other warms up. Due to the fact that herons live for the most part in the middle lane, which does not differ even in summer by high water temperatures in ponds, rivers and lakes, so they carry out thermoregulation of the body. The paw, pressed against the warm belly, quickly warms up and the bird does not freeze. This feathered predator spends most of its life motionless in search of prey, so good thermoregulation is extremely important. Another option to explain why the heron stands on one leg is its hunting instincts. Fish, beetles, frogs are very nimble creatures, especially in their native water element. And in order to grab them, the bird of prey has a split second. And there is simply no time to pull out one leg to take a step towards the prey. Therefore, the heron takes one paw out of the water in advance to make a lightning-fast throw at the long-awaited lunch. Chicks learn this behavior by observing their parents. And this continues for many millennia.
