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Green Heron

Butorides VirescensOrder: CICONIIFORMESFamily: Bitterns, Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)

Green Heron Portrait
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General

Green Heron: Small heron with gray-green upperparts. Head, neck and upper breast are chestnut-brown and belly is paler brown. Head has green-black cap with small crest and yellow eyes. Throat is white and neck has white central stripe. Bill is two-toned with dark upper mandible and yellow lower mandible. Legs are yellow. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has white streaks on underparts. Habitually squawks and defecates on take off when startled.

Range and Habitat

Green Heron: Breeds across most of the U.S.; spends winters in the southern U.S. south to Venezuela, Panama, and the West Indies. Preferred habitats include shoreline habitats along rivers, oceans, lakes, and ponds.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"qua qua"

Interesting Facts

  • The Green Heron is one of the few tool-using birds. It commonly drops bait onto the surface of the water and grabs the small fish that are attracted.
  • They tend to wander after the breeding season is over. Most probably seek more favorable foraging areas and do not travel far. Occasionally some turn up in England and France.
  • The Green Heron is part of a complex of small herons that sometimes are considered one species. When lumped, they are called Green-backed Heron. When split, they are the Green Heron, the Striated Heron, and the Galapagos Heron.
  • A group of herons has many collective nouns, including a "battery", "hedge", "pose", "rookery", and "scattering" of herons."


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Green Heron
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Butorides Virescens
Length18 - 22 Inches
Wingspan26 Inches

Green Heron

Green Heron: Small heron with gray-green upperparts. Head, neck, upper breast are chestnut-brown, belly is paler brown. Head has green-black cap with small crest. Throat is white and neck has white central stripe. Bill is two-toned with dark upper mandible and yellow lower mandible. Direct flight.

● Song: "qua qua"

● Foraging & Feeding: Green Heron: Diet consists of frogs, fish, snails, tadpoles, crayfish, crabs, crickets, dragonflies, water bugs, small snakes, and mice. Stands motionless with head cocked and neck extended waiting for prey; sometimes dives into the water to catch fish.

● Breeding & nesting: Green Heron: Two to seven pale green or blue green eggs are laid in a flat nest made of sticks and leaves, usually built in a tree near water 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 19 to 21 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Green Heron: Little Blue Heron is larger and lacks brown head and neck.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with slow steady arched wing beats.
Green Heron Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Green Heron: Breeds across most of the U.S.; spends winters in the southern U.S. south to Venezuela, Panama, and the West Indies. Preferred habitats include shoreline habitats along rivers, oceans, lakes, and ponds.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationStable and common
MigrationSome migrate
Weight7.5 Ounces