Great blue heron

This article is about the bird. For the music festival, see The Great Blue Heron Music Festival. For the casino, see Great Blue Heron Casino.
Not to be confused with the great egret.

Great blue heron
Temporal range: Pleistocene–present
↓
In the Conestogo River, near St. Jacobs, Ontario
White form, possibly A. h. occidentalis, in Cayo Guillermo National Park, Cuba
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Ardea
Species:
A. herodias
Binomial name
Ardea herodias
North American range (also in far northwestern South America, not shown)
  Breeding range
  Year-round range
  Wintering range
  Present during migration

The great blue heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. It is occasionally found in the Azores and is a rare vagrant to Europe. An all-white population found in south Florida and the Florida Keys is known as the great white heron. Debate exists about whether these white birds are a color morph of the great blue heron, a subspecies of it, or an entirely separate species.[2][3]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2020). "Ardea herodias". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T181500967A181565357. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T181500967A181565357.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Great White Heron". fws.gov. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  3. ^ Sibley, David Allen (5 November 2007). ""Great White" Heron – not just a color morph". Sibley Guides. Retrieved 6 September 2018.