Green Heron Nesting

The Green Heron skulks in reeds and occasionally delights the dedicated birder. Although present in low densities, it is the most widespread of the breeding herons according to the 1993 Monterey County Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA). Found along rivers, streams, and forested edges of large ponds, Butorides virescens chooses secluded nesting sites with

access to food sources. This relatively small heron nests in trees or bushes with branches large enough to support the nest, which can be found from ground level up to 10 meters. A clutch is generally 3 to 5 eggs, laid sequentially.

On July 12, California Breeding Bird Atlasers Gail Griffin and Della Bossart spotted Green Heron fledglings. Della Bossart returned on July 13 and was able to photograph four chicks waiting hungrily in the reeds as a parent feeds them and splashes off to continue foraging. Both parents brood and feed the chicks, which will jump from nest to branches by day 15, and take short flights by day 21. They will become independent of their parents approximately 30 to 35 days after hatching.

Read more about the Green Heron at Cornell Lab's All About Birds or Birds of the

World.

Learn more about the California Breeding Atlas, a large-scale effort that tells us not just where birds are, but how birds actually use our landscapes. This initiative is critical to understanding the current status of birds in our state.

Green Heron wading, photo by Della Bossart, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/661177321

All photos by Della Bossart.