Green heron: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the green heron lives – recorded in 42 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Butorides virescens
Group	Herons, storks, cranes & flamingos
Found in	42 countries
Continents	Europe, North America, South America
Class	Bird
Order	Pelecaniformes
Family	Ardeidae

Where does the green heron live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the green heron in 42 countries and territories across Europe, North America and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Africa, South America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the green heron?

The green heron (Butorides virescens) is a bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the family Ardeidae, genus Butorides. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the green heron

The green heron (Butorides virescens) is a small heron of North and Central America. Butorides is from Middle English butor "bittern" and Ancient Greek -oides, "resembling", and virescens is Latin for "greenish".

It was long considered conspecific with its sister species the striated heron (Butorides striata); when treated together, they were called "green-backed heron".

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Green heron (revision 1380683004), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q498228 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).