Profile GreenHeron Butoridesvirescens The Green Heron is part of a short tails when alarmed. They are complex of small herons that some- often first noticed when flushed times are considered one species. unexpectedly from the edge of the When lumped, they are called water and fly off uttering a sharp Green-backed Heron. call. They are the smallest herons When split, they are the Green after the tiny Least Bittern. Heron (Butorides virescens) in Green Herons are com- North America, the Striated Heron mon breeders in coastal and inland (Butorides striata) in the Old World wetlands. They nest along tropics and South America, and the swamps, marshes, lakes, ponds, Galapagos Heron (Butorides and other wet habitats with trees sundevalli). and shrubs along the edges to pro- Green Herons are most con- vide secluded nest sites. spicuous during dusk and dawn, being ing the day if they’re hungry or if they The male selects a secluded site as much nocturnal as diurnal. They tend have young to feed. within his territory, usually in a large to retreat to sheltered areas in daytime. They mainly eat small fish, frogs fork of a tree or bush, with overhang- However, they will feed actively dur- and aquatic arthropods like crayfish, ing branches to conceal the nest. The but may take any prey they can catch, nest is usually on or over the water and including such animals such as leeches may be anywhere from ground level to and mice. 30 or higher feet off the ground. Green Herons are intolerant of The male begins building the nest other birds when feeding. They typi- before pairing up to breed, but after- cally stand in a crouched position, hori- ward passes off most of the construc- zontal to the water surface with head tion to his mate. As the male gathers and neck retracted. Standing is often long, thin sticks, the female shapes interspersed with slow walking in a them into a nest 8–12 inches across, crouched posture. When a fish ap- with a shallow depression averaging proaches, the heron lunges and darts its less than 2 inches deep. The nest varies head, grasping or sometimes spearing from solid to flimsy, and has no lining. the fish with its heavy bill. Green Herons sometimes renovate Sometimes they drop bread crusts, old nests, or build in old Black-crowned insects, and other small objects on the Night Heron or Snowy Egret nests. surface of the water as bait to lure fish, Occasionally they take sticks from making them one of the few known nearby old nests and refashion them tool-using birds. into new nests. They keep adding sticks Occasionally Green Herons hunt in throughout the breeding season. deeper water by plunging on prey from The clutch is usually from two to above. They can swim back to shore four eggs, laid in two-day intervals. with help from the webs between their After the last egg has been laid, both middle and outer toes. parents incubate for about 19–21 days Common foraging areas are shal- until hatching. Both feed the young lows of swamps, creeks, marshes, birds. The frequency of feedings de- ditches, and mangroves, typically creases as the offspring near fledging. among thick vegetation in water that is Chicks fledge in about three weeks, less than four inches deep. They tend but they hop around the nest and snap to avoid the deeper and more open ar- at insects at two weeks. The young may eas frequented by longer-legged herons. start to leave the nest after 16 days, but Green Herons are wary, erecting they are not fully fledged and able to their short crests, straightening their fend for themselves until they are about Main feeding technique: Scan, Strike, Score! necks, and nervously flicking their a month old.