Scientific Name: Butorides striatus

Residency: Year-round along southern border of Arizona; summers throughout most of the state.

Diet: Frogs, fishes, snails, tadpoles, crayfish and crabs, crickets, dragonflies, water bugs, and sometimes small snakes and mice.

Predators:  Eggs are taken by snakes, Common Grackles, and Fish Crows.  Broad-winged Hawks take adults.

Nesting: Flat nest composed of sticks loosely arranged with leaves and twigs. The nest is usually about 10-15 feet above ground. Three to five eggs are laid; they are sea-green to pale green in color.

Nesting records:

Notes: Green Heron populations seem to be remaining stable throughout its range and may even be slightly increasing in number within the Sonoran Desert.

Photo: Taken at the Riparian Preserve at the Gilbert Water Ranch on February 17, 2007.  For more photos, click on camera icon.

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