Green Heron

COMMON NAME: Green Heron

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Butorides virescens

DESCRIPTION:

This colorful bird can be found along the coast only during mating season, since it lives mainly in Georgia and Florida during the winter. Its back and wings are blue-grey, its belly, front of neck and chin are white, the rest of its neck and the sides of its head are chestnut and the top of its head is the characteristic greenish black. It is 16-22” long.

LIFE HISTORY:

Mating occurs from late March to late July. The female will lay 2-7 eggs which she incubates with the male for 21-25 days. The young fledge after 35 days and become independent after another month.

ECOLOGY:

Green herons will make flat nests out of sticks and twigs in shrubs or small trees near or on ponds, rivers, lakes, marshes and mangroves. During mating season they can be found along the East and West Coasts and the Midwest.

Green herons will feed on fish, insects, invertebrates and amphibians. They will catch their prey with a darting grasp of their large bill.

www.gwf.org, the Georgia Wildlife Federation
animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu, the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
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