Green HeronGreen Heron -- South Dakota Birds
| Length: 20 inches | Wingspan: 26 inches | Seasonality: Summer |
| ID Keys: Dark bluish-green back, orange-yellow legs, chestnut neck, dark crown feathers. | ||
Green Heron
Butorides virescens
A less gregarious heron than most, and at times, quite shy and difficult to approach. Green Herons are generally solitary, nesting as isolated pairs or small groups, never in the large breeding colonies of other herons and egrets.
Habitat: Can be found in nearly any aquatic habitat, but prefers small water bodies with both dense emergent vegetation and open water.
Diet: Mostly small fish. Also crustaceans, frogs, tadpoles, insects, and small rodents.
Nesting: May and June.
Breeding Map: Breeding Bird Survey map
Song: Crisp skeeow in flight. Can also give a low irregular series of clucking notes.
Migrations: Summers throughout most of the eastern half of the United States, near the West Coast, and in scattered locations elsewhere in the West. Winters near the U.S. West Coast, the Gulf Coast, Mexico, Central America, and South America. Some southern and western populations in the United States are permanent residents.
Status: Populations generally stable to increasing. May be increasing its range to the north and west.
Similar Species: Least Bittern
South Dakota "Hotspot" -- The Madison Waterfowl Production Area, just to the west of Lake Madison, is a wonderful place to see these sometimes shy birds out in the open. Water in the WPA is generally very uniformly shallow, allowing Green Herons to forage well away from the shoreline vegetation which often hides there presence. In the spring, late summer and early fall, it is also a wonderful location for viewing Great Egrets, American White Pelicans, various shorebirds, Common and Forster's Terns, Franklin's and Bonaparte's Gulls, Great Blue Herons, and the occasional Snowy Egret.
Further Information: 1) USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter, Green Heron
2) Cornell University's "All About Birds - Green Heron"
Photo Information: Madison Waterfowl Production Area -- Terry L. Sohl
Additional Photos: Click on the image chips or text links below for additional, higher-resolution Green Heron photos.
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Please mail any comments/suggestions/additional links for this page to: Terry L. Sohl
This page was last edited on 02/03/08
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