Grey Heron
Ardea cinerea
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns (Ardeidae)
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
Overview
The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water, or stalking its prey through the shallows.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Countries
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Angola
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Faroe Islands
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Guam
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Mauritania
- Mayotte
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestine
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Republic of the Congo
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- Uzbekistan
- Vatican City
- Vietnam
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Grey heron
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.