Great Blue Heron
Photo: DallasPenner · CC BY-SA 4.0

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Great Blue Heron

Ardea herodias

NENot Evaluated
Family
Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns (Ardeidae)
Order
Pelecaniformes

Overview

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.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.