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Glite Dictionary
heronry

heronry

1 9.6
A place where herons build nests and raise their young
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛrənri/
  • Specialized
: heronera
  • The heronry along the riverbank is filled with herons nurturing their chicks during the breeding season.

Examples

  • Every spring, the heronry becomes a lively place as many herons return to nest in the tall trees.

  • He smelled new odors drifting in from the heronry, in which traditionally the big birds reared their young, and on previous night excursions he had heard unusual sounds coming from the birds' breeding place, perhaps of young begging for food.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Visitors often gather near the heronry to observe the magnificent herons as they care for their young.

How Big

heronry
  • Specialized
1 9.6
nest
233 1.0

Surface Forms

heronry singular
heronries plural

Morphology

heronry = heron (semi-transparent) = heron + ry

The suffix '-ry' indicates a place associated with the root, but the specific meaning of a breeding colony is not immediately obvious.

Etymology

Heronry comes from heron (the long-necked bird) plus the ending -ry, which means a 'place of' or a 'group'. So a heronry is simply a place where many herons nest and breed, like a rookery for rooks.