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Green Heron

Butorides virescens

Not Evaluated · IUCN Red List

NENot EvaluatedOmnivoreWetlandPlatform nestMedium · 202 g
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 1
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 2
Photo: Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK · CC BY 2.0
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 3
Photo: Serebit · CC0
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 4
Photo: David Garza · CC BY 4.0
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 5
Photo: Dan Horowitz · CC0
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 6
Photo: David Garza · CC BY 4.0
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 7
Photo: Jill DeVito, PhD · CC0
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 8
Photo: Jill DeVito, PhD · CC0
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 9
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0
Green Heron (Butorides virescens), photo 10
Photo: Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK · CC BY 2.0

What the Green Heron sounds like

Sonogram of the Green Heron: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Jonathan Sowers · Skippack Township (near Collegeville), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States · CC BY 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Green Heron: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Audrey Plassio · Song · Carroll Township (near Dillsburg), York County, Pennsylvania, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Green Heron: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Call · Theodore Wirth Park, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The green heron is a relatively small heron; adult body length is about 44 cm (17 in). The neck is often pulled in tight against the body. Adults have a glossy, greenish-black cap, an iridescent greenish back and wings that are gray-black grading into green or blue, a chestnut neck with a pair or more of white lines down the front, gray underparts and short yellow legs. The bill is dark with a long, sharp point. Female adults tend to be smaller than males, and have duller and lighter plumage, particularly in the breeding season.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Green Heron

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 9 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Green Heron

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 44 countries with regular records, and 6 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States Canada Mexico Costa Rica Belize Panama Puerto Rico Guatemala Cuba Honduras Bahamas Nicaragua Guadeloupe Bermuda Dominican Republic Colombia Cayman Islands El Salvador Curaçao Aruba Barbados Jamaica Caribbean Netherlands U.S. Virgin Islands Trinidad & Tobago Grenada Turks & Caicos Islands Venezuela St. Martin Haiti Montserrat Antigua & Barbuda St. Lucia Anguilla Dominica St. Vincent & Grenadines Martinique British Virgin Islands St. Kitts & Nevis Portugal St. Barthélemy Ecuador St. Pierre & Miquelon Benin

Recorded as a rare visitor in United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland, Sweden.

About the Green Heron

The green heron is a small heron of North and Central America. Butorides is from Middle English butor "bittern" and Ancient Greek -oides, "resembling", and virescens is Latin for "greenish".

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Striated Heron (Butorides striata) Striated HeronButorides striataThe striated heron is 35–48 cm (14–19 in) in length, weighs 130–250 g (4.6–8.8 oz) and has a wing-span of 52–60 cm (20–24 in). Lava Heron (Butorides sundevalli) Lava HeronButorides sundevalliThe adult is slate-grey to black, which allows it to blend in with the hardened lava. Little Heron (Butorides atricapilla) Little HeronButorides atricapillaThe little heron is 35–48 cm (14–19 in) in length, weighs 130–250 g (4.6–8.8 oz) and has a wing-span of 52–60 cm (20–24 in).

Side by side: Green Heron vs Striated Heron

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