Grey Heron

Ardea cinerea

The Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) is a bird found in Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Spain, and 5 more countries. Rivers, lakes and marshes across Europe, Asia and Africa. It eats fish, insects and other small invertebrates and small mammals and birds. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

See the Grey Heron on the 3D globe →

Scientific name	Ardea cinerea
Region	Europe
Found in	Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Spain, and 5 more countries

🏡 Where the Grey Heron lives

Rivers, lakes and marshes across Europe, Asia and Africa.

🍽️ What it eats

🐟 Fish60%
🐛 Insects & bugs20%
🐭 Mammals & birds10%
🦎 Reptiles & frogs10%

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

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It stands perfectly still for ages, then stabs fish with lightning speed.

Hear the Grey Heron

Recorded by Bo Shunqi 薄顺奇 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC840620. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Grey Heron

Where does the Grey Heron live?

The Grey Heron lives in Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Spain, and 5 more countries. Rivers, lakes and marshes across Europe, Asia and Africa.

What does the Grey Heron eat?

fish (about 60%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 20%), small mammals and birds (about 10%), reptiles and frogs (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Grey Heron endangered?

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

More birds from Europe

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