Green Heron
Butorides Striatus
CLASS: Aves
ORDER: Ciconiiformes
FAMILY: Ardeidae
SIZE:
15 - 22 inches in length
RANGE:
British Columbia, Minnesota, and New Brunswick, south to southern South America; winters from South Carolina to Gulf Coast and California; also tropical portions of Africa and southeast Asia
HABITAT:
Lake margins, streams, ponds, and marshes
DIET:
Wild - Fish mainly
Zoo - Soaked dog food, fish, flamingo diet, and meat
DESCRIPTION:
Crow sized
Small dark with bright orange or yellowish legs
Chestnut head and neck, black crown with a small crest
Dark green gray wings
FACTS:
Most common heron in much of its range; its often first noticed when it flushes unexpectedly from the edge of water and flies off
YOUNG:
3 - 6 pale blue-green eggs in a flimsy saucer of twigs and sticks in a bush or thicket near water; occasionally breeds in colonies
STATUS:
Not threatened; common to abundant
REFERENCE:
"The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds," John Bull and John Farrand Jr.; the American Museum of Natural History
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