Green Heron

Green Heron, common name for a small, solitary North American wading bird. The green heron is a secretive bird that lives along small bodies of fresh or saltwater edged with dense vegetation. It is the most widely distributed of North American herons, breeding in spring and summer over most of the eastern half of the United States and along the Pacific Coast wherever suitable habitat can be found. It winters from Florida and the Gulf Coast southward as far as northern South America and is a permanent resident in the West Indies and Central America.

One of the smallest North American herons, the green heron is only 46 to 56 cm (18 to 22 in) long, with a wingspread of about 66 cm (about 26 in). The adult is strikingly colored with an iridescent green back and a reddish-brown face and neck. The feathers on the top of the head are greenish black and are sometimes raised to form a crest. The long, sharp bill is brownish black, and the short legs are yellowish or bright orange. Immature birds in their first year have a brownish back and head; their throat and underparts are white and heavily streaked with brown. The green heron’s common call is a sharp kyow, but when alarmed, it utters a loud skeow.

The green heron’s diet consists mostly of small fish. It will also eat crayfish and other crustaceans, frogs, tadpoles, aquatic insects, grasshoppers, earthworms, and snails. When hunting, the green heron often crouches half-hidden in vegetation along the edge of water with its head and short neck extended, watching for prey to swim near. It may also lean far out over the water from a log, dive into the water after its prey, or drop a feather or twig onto the water as bait. Green herons also forage by wading slowly in shallow water, stopping to rake the bottom with one foot to stir up prey.

Nesting takes place from March through July. During courtship, the male repeatedly calls from a tree or shrub, and both the male and female may signal each other by performing display flights. The male also displays by stretching his neck forward and down, then snapping his bill shut, or by swaying back and forth while pointing his bill upward.

Green herons nest in isolated pairs or in small groups in a variety of habitats, such as willow thickets, mangroves, dry woods, or open marsh. The nest is a platform of sticks, usually placed in a shrub or tree about 3 to 5 m (about 10 to 15 ft) above the ground and near water. The male begins construction of the nest, then brings nesting material to the female, who completes the nest. The female lays three to five pale green eggs, and both parents take turns incubating, or warming, the eggs by sitting on them for 19 to 21 days until the young have hatched. Both parents feed the young, which are ready to leave the nest, or fledge, 21 to 23 days after hatching. Even after the young have fledged, the parents continue to feed them for several weeks.

Scientific classification: The green heron belongs to the heron family, Ardeidae, in the order Ciconiiformes, and is classified as Butorides virescens.

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