Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPelecaniformes (Pelicaniformes)
- FamilyArdeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns)
- GenusArdea (Great Herons and Egrets)
- SpeciesArdea herodias (Great Blue Heron)
The great blue heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family (Ardeidae), common near shores of open water and wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as Northwestern South America, the Caribbean, and the Galápagos Islands. It is occasionally found in the Azores and is a rare vagrant to Europe. An all-white population found in South Florida, the Florida Keys, and the Caribbean islands, is known as the great white heron. Debate exists about whether these white birds are a color morph of the great blue heron, a subspecies of it, or an entirely separate species. Wikipedia →
<5% of wildlife watchers report a Great Blue Heron sighting in Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve, based on 10 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
Closest Relatives at Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve
Great Egret
Ardea alba
Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Tigrisoma mexicanum
Snowy Egret
Egretta thula
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Nyctanassa violacea
Little Blue Heron
Egretta caerulea
Reddish Egret
Egretta rufescens
Green Heron
Butorides virescens
Tricolored Heron
Egretta tricolor
Cattle Egret
Bubulcus ibis
Boat-billed Heron
Cochlearius cochlearius
Black-crowned Night Heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
Pinnated Bittern
Botaurus pinnatus
📅 Monthly Probability
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Great Blue Heron in Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve?
About 1% of wildlife watchers report a Great Blue Heron sighting in Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve, based on 10 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Great Blue Heron in Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve?
November has the highest sighting rate for Great Blue Heron in Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve in our monthly data.