Heron Marked sword: Why a heron?

Are herons kick-ass birds, and I was just unaware?
Why not a raptor, or something more aggressive?

Never even heard of this before your post. I thought maybe it was a Myth: Soulblighter reference.

Thanks, Toadspittle.

I was secretly hoping to find out that Jordan is a fan of kung fu flicks, and his favorite movie has a guy using crane/heron style to defeat Shaolin Fist.