Formerly known as little green herons or green-backed herons, green herons are common summer residents of wetland areas throughout most of the contiguous U.S. and southernmost Canada. However, unlike their large, long-legged cousins, these small herons feed along marshy shores, at the edge of secluded mudflats and beneath the cover of boat docks or riparian vegetation and are often missed by the casual birder; when accidentally flushed from their hunting site, they fly off, squawking their displeasure at the intruder.
Feeding primarily on small fish, green herons are known to attract prey by dropping insects or small twigs into the water; they also consume amphibians, lizards and large insects. Nests are built by both parents and generally placed in a shrub or low tree branch near or above a favored feeding area; while they may nest in mixed heron colonies, they prefer an isolated nest site. In like manner, green herons generally hunt alone though family groups may be encountered in late summer and congregations may appear along shrinking pools to feast on stranded schools of fish.
Green herons are permanent residents of California and the Coastal Plain, from South Carolina to Texas. Those that summer farther north or inland may winter in these regions or head further south to coastal wetlands of Mexico.
