Great Blue Heron

About the Great Blue Heron

The great blue heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family (Ardeidae), common near shores of open water and wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as 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, the Florida Keys, and the Caribbean islands, 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.

The great blue heron was one of many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae. The scientific name comes from Latin ardea, and Ancient Greek ἐρῳδιός (erōdios), both meaning "heron".

The great blue heron's niche in the Old World is filled by the congeneric grey heron (Ardea cinerea), which is somewhat smaller at 90–98 cm (35–39 in) and sports a pale gray neck and legs, lacking the brown hues of the great blue heron. The great blue heron forms a superspecies with the grey heron, which also includes the Cocoi heron of South America, which... Wikipedia →