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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Ardea herodias
Great Blue Heron

 
Scientific Name: Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758
English Name: Great Blue Heron
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: B-GBHE
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Aves Pelecaniformes Ardeidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: S3 (Mar 2015)
BC List: No Status
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 4 - Secure (2005)
Migratory Bird Convention Act: Y
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Clutch size is 3-7, averages larger in north than in south. Incubation, by both sexes, lasts 25-29 days. Both parents tend young, which leave nest in 60-90 days. May breed at 2 years. Nests usually in colonies, a few pairs to 100s; sometimes solitary. Fledging success depends importantly on success of parents in providing sufficient food when nestlings are 2-6 weeks old (Bennett et al. 1995, Auk 112:201-209).
Global Ecology Comments: Nonbreeding: usually solitary. May establish feeding territories in winter (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		Y /
Y /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Migrates to northern breeding range February-early May; departs northerly localities September-October. Disperses in all compass directions after breeding, before southward migration. Southern populations may be quite sedentary. Present in small numbers in Colombia mainly October to mid-April, in Panama mainly September-April (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989, Hilty and Brown 1986).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Agriculture / Cultivated Field / Unknown
Agriculture / Hedgerow / Unknown
Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Unknown
Lakes / Lake / Unknown
Ocean / Intertidal Marine / Unknown
Ocean / Marine Island / Unknown
Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Unknown
Ocean / Subtidal Marine / Unknown
Other Unique Habitats / Estuary / Unknown
Riparian / Riparian Forest / Unknown
Stream/River / Stream/River / Unknown
Wetland / Bog / Unknown
Wetland / Fen / Unknown
Wetland / Marsh / Unknown
Wetland / Swamp / Unknown
Global Habitat Comments: Freshwater and brackish marshes, along lakes, rivers, bays, lagoons, ocean beaches, mangroves, fields, and meadows. Nests commonly high in trees in swamps and forested areas, less commonly in bushes, or on ground, rock ledges, and coastal cliffs. Often nests with other herons. See Spendelow and Patton (1988) for further details and discussion of geographic variation in nesting sites. Generally nests close to foraging habitat.
Food Habits: Carnivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Eats fishes, insects, crustaceans, amphibians and reptiles, mice and shrews, and other animals. Forages mostly while standing in water but also in fields; sometimes drops from air or perch into water (Palmer 1962, Terres 1980).
Global Phenology: Circadian: Adult, Immature
Crepuscular: Adult, Immature
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
Global Phenology Comments: Generally tends to be mainly crepuscular but also is active in daytime and at night. In coastal region, activity often is related to the tidal cycle, independent of day-night cycle in some areas (Powell 1987). Nocturnal foraging activity occurs in nontidal situations as well as in tidal environments (McNeil et al. 1993).
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: Y
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 117/ / 2576
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: BREEDING: southeastern Alaska and southern Canada to southern Mexico, Greater Antilles, Virgin Islands (St. Thomas and Anegada), islands off coastal Venezuela, and on Galapagos. NON-BREEDING: southeastern Alaska, central U.S., and southern New England south to northern South America (mainly to northern Colombia, northern Venezuela). In the U.S. in winter, the highest densities occur along the lower Colorado River, around the Great Salt Lake, and near Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas coast (Root 1988). Wanders widely outside usual range, a few times to Hawaii. Some subadults may spend summer in nonbreeding range.
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Apr 30, 1996
Provincial Information Author: VCA
Last Updated: Dec 29, 1997
   
References and Related Literature
1998. The Great Blue Heron. B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 2pp.
Allen, H. 1991. The great blue heron. NorthWord Press, Inc. 175 pp.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
Butler, R.W. 1992. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias). In A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, editors, The Birds of North America, No. 25. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC.
Campbell, R.W., et al. 1988. Species Notes for Selected Birds, Vol. 2 in A.P. Harcombe, tech. ed. 1988. B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. Rep. R-16. 131pp.
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I.McT. Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G. Kaiser, and M.C.E. McNall. 1990. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 1. Nonpasserines: Introduction, Loons through Waterfowl. Royal B.C. Mus. in association with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv. 514pp.
DeMauro, M. M. 1993. Colonial nesting bird responses to visitor use at Lake Renwick heron rookery, Illinois. Natural Areas Journal 13:4-9.
Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1992. Birds in Jeopardy: the Imperiled and Extinct Birds of the United States and Canada, Including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 259 pp.
Fleury, B. E., and T. W. Sherry. 1995. Long-term population trends of colonial wading birds in the southern United States: the impact of crayfish aquaculture on Louisiana populations. Auk 112:613-632.
Gebauer, M.B., and I.E. Moul. 2001. Status of the Great Blue Heron in British Columbia. B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. Working rep. WR-102. 66pp.
Gerrard, J. M., et al. 1993. Water-bird population changes in 1976-1990 on Besnard Lake, Saskatchewan: increases in loons, gulls, and pelicans. Can. J. Zool. 71:1681-1686.
Gibbs, J. P. 1991. Spatial relationships between nesting colonies and foraging areas of great blue herons. Auk 108:764-770.
Hilty, S.L. and W. L. Brown. 1986. A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. 836 pp.
McNeil, R., R. Benoit, and J.-L. Desgranges. 1993. Daytime and nighttime activity at a breeding colony of great blue herons in a nontidal environment. Can. J. Zoool. 71:1075-1078.
Ministry of Environment. 2008. Develop with Care, Great Blue Herons Fact Sheet #11. Environmental Guidelines for Urban and Rural Land Development in British Columbia. 2 pp.
Palmer, R. S. (editor). 1962. Handbook of North American birds. Vol. 1. Loons through flamingos. Yale University Press, New Haven. 567 pp.
Payne, R. B., and C. J. Risley. 1976. Systematics and evolutionary relationships among the herons (Ardeidae). Univ. Michigan Mus. Zool., Misc. Publ. No. 150. 115 pp.
Powell, G.V.N. 1987. Habitat use by wading birds in a subtropical estuary: implications of hydrography. Auk 104:740-749.
Pratt, H. D., P. L. Bruner, and D. G. Berrett. 1987. A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 409 pp. + 45 plates.
Raffaele, H. A. 1983a. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Fondo Educativo Interamericano, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 255 pp.
Ridgely, R. S., and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A guide to the birds of Panama with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Second edition. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 534 pp.
Root, T. 1988. Atlas of wintering North American birds: An analysis of Christmas Bird Count data. University of Chicago Press. 336 pp.
Spendelow, J. A. and S. R. Patton. 1988. National Atlas of Coastal Waterbird Colonies in the Contiguous United States: 1976-1982. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 88(5). x + 326 pp.
Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Vos, D. K. 1984. Response of breeding great blue herons tohuman disturbance in northcentral Colorado. M.S. thesis, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1996. Species Summary: Ardea herodias. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).