The Green Heron really IS green!

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When I tell visitors to our wetlands that this coy little bird is a Green Heron, they almost always ask why it’s called a Green Heron, since “it isn’t green”. Truthfully, until today, it always appeared quite grayish-blue, chestnut, and white to me, and in the shadows looked even darker.

The Smithsonian Birds of Florida Handbook (p. 73) describes the Green Heron as “perhaps more blue than green…”, and Audubon.org even implies that the ‘green’ is questionable: “The ‘green’ on this bird’s back is an iridescent color, and often looks dull bluish or simply dark.”

But when I looked at these three shots I took the other day, I was frankly delighted and surprised to see that beautiful and iridescent green – straight out of the camera, no editing!

All About Birds at least mentions ‘green’ in their description: “From a distance Green Herons look all dark. In better light they are deep green on the back with a rich chestnut breast and neck. The wings are dark gray.”

But regardless of how green they look, Green Herons are unquestionably among the most handsome and photogenic of our wetland birds!

32 thoughts on “The Green Heron really IS green!”

  9. I don’t think I actually ever saw a ‘Green Heron’ except here in your
    fabulous photos. So many birds in south Florida but no Green Herons.
    Maybe they just were too busy somewhere feeding. There certainly are
    better places than here.
    Thank you for the the great photographs. Loved them all!

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  11. Gorgeous captures that show off the feather coloration of the Green Heron, Carol. I love the draping of the long feathers in your first two images–you really can see how much variation in color and the iridescence that is going on there.

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