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Green Heron; Bird of Mystery

© Glenda Gibbons

It was perched on a pasture fencepost in my yard when I first noticed it. What drew my attention was the beak. To me, it was clearly a heron's beak. The bird appeared dark in sunlight, but I could recognize the long neck when it stretched, then took to flight.

Time for binoculars! I ran into the house, found the field glasses, and lo and behold! It was a Green-Backed heron. I quickly assessed that it must be living in the line of pine trees on my property, and fishing in the neighbor's pond. The next day, I saw two herons; one of them was a female!

The Green (Green-Backed) heron is an elusive bird. Its length is about 16" (40 cm), or about the size of a crow. Believe it or not, there are over thirty species of Green herons living in various parts of the world today. This mysterious bird is known to adapt his color to his environment. Green herons can be found in the world today throughout North and South America, depending on the time of the year. They can live comfortably in both saltwater and freshwater. It is not known yet if this is a normal phenomenon or a necessary adaptation, given the disappearing wetlands of the world.

The Green heron does not look like his other heron counterparts. Perhaps the most noticeable differences are the short legs. They are usually a greenish yellow, except during breeding season, when they are a bright orange-yellow color. Their glossy feathers combine into a green and brown pattern that blends well with tall grasses, trees, underbrush,and water reeds. It is thought by some bird specialists that the yellow legs help to attract fish when the bird is standing in the water. Immature birds look the same except their colors are a little duller.

While there is not a great deal of information about the eating habits of the Green heron, we know that this innovative little bird is full of ideas when it comes to fishing. The most popular way is by standing motionless in the water, its body in a crouching position. These birds seem to have the patience of Job. When this technique is not appropriate, there are other methods such as, head and neck swaying, foot-stirring, and foot-raking in the shallow water. This bird has cleverly learned to use bait by dropping a small insect or worm into the water, thus attracting fish from all over the area. It is assumed that this is a learned behavior, picked up by watching other birds who are or have been in, captivity. The diet of the Green-Backed heron consists of, small fish, insects, amphibians, crabs, prawns, and other marine life of similar size.

The copyright of the article Green Heron; Bird of Mystery in Tropical Birds is owned by Glenda Gibbons. Permission to republish Green Heron; Bird of Mystery in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.