The Green Heron is a small heron with a dark green back and chestnut neck, found around ponds and wooded streams in the United States. It waits at the water’s edge to catch small fish and sometimes drops small objects onto the water to lure them closer.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Adults have a dark green back and cap, a chestnut neck, and yellowish legs. Young birds are browner and show more pale streaks.
Look-alikes
An adult Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is pale below, while an adult Green Heron has a dark belly and a chestnut neck. The night heron also has a thicker bill.
Why they get mixed upBoth can look short-necked and dark at the edge of a pond.
An adult Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) stands taller and slimmer with a longer neck. An adult Green Heron looks compact and has a chestnut neck.
Why they get mixed upBoth can appear dark from a distance.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- vegetated ponds
- marshes
- wooded stream edges
- Range
- They breed around wetlands in much of the eastern United States and along parts of the Pacific Coast. Northern birds move south; some birds remain in warm southern areas through winter.
- Preferred conditions
- They favor shallow water with trees or shrubs that offer cover.
- When it’s recorded
Recorded year-round, every year · most records in May, Jul–Aug
55,391 observations in the US · 10 years · for reference
Behavior
- Diet
- In the United States they mainly eat small fish, and also take insects, amphibians, and other small animals.
- Activity
- They wait quietly at the water’s edge and strike quickly. Some drop small objects into the water to attract fish.
Life cycle
- Nest
- A pair builds a platform of twigs in a tree or shrub near water.
- Clutch size
- 3–5 eggs
- Incubation
- 19–21 days
Name and classification
- About the name
- This bird was sometimes grouped with other small herons as the Green-backed Heron. Eastern, Western, Frazar’s, and Bahama Green Herons are named in different parts of its range.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
- Status
- U.S. breeding surveys show a long-term decline, and wetland loss is a concern.
11 sources
- iNaturalist taxon API: Butorides virescens
- Cornell: Green Heron Identification
- Cornell: Green Heron Life History
- Cornell: Green Heron Similar Species Comparison
- Cornell: Green Heron Overview
- English Wikipedia: Butorides
- IUCN: Green-backed Heron broad assessment
- Korean Ornithological Society: Checklist of the Birds of Korea 2025
- eBird media: ササゴイ
- NIBR 2017–2018 winter census
- Japan Ministry of Environment: ササゴイ