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The Green heron (Butorides virescens) is a bird found in United States, Canada and Mexico. Ponds, swamps and shores across North and Central America. It eats fish, insects and other small invertebrates and reptiles and frogs. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Green heron lives

Ponds, swamps and shores across North and Central America.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐟 Fish40%
• 🐛 Insects & bugs30%
• 🦎 Reptiles & frogs30%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Green heron

Recorded by Scott Olmstead (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC957415. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Green heron

Where does the Green heron live?

The Green heron lives in United States, Canada and Mexico. Ponds, swamps and shores across North and Central America.

What does the Green heron eat?

fish (about 40%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 30%), reptiles and frogs (about 30%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Green heron endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

• Marbled murrelet
• Golden-cheeked warbler
• Saint Lucia oriole
• Semper's warbler
• Black-capped petrel
• Maroon-fronted parrot

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.