Grey herons have successfully colonised urban environments, using parks, waterways and garden ponds for feeding, and their welfare depends on prey availability and freedom from disturbance.
Urban grey herons experience welfare benefits from the rich food sources in urban environments - garden ponds, urban waterways and park lakes. However, they face persecution from pond owners and disturbance at nesting heronries. Protecting heronries from disturbance during the critical nesting period and managing garden pond protection humanely both benefit heron welfare.