| Also known as the Green-backed Heron or the Little Green Heron, this crow-sized bird has a dark gray-green back and wings. The crown is black while the neck is a purplish-chestnut color. The bill is dark and the legs are bright orange. Immature birds are similar in color but are streaked on the neck, breast, and sides.
The breeding habitat for this bird consists of the forested margins along freshwater and brackish marshlands over the eastern two thirds of the United States and in a narrow strip along the Pacific sea coast. It requires only a pond or a stream with thick brush or trees for nesting and soft mud in which to search for prey. The Green Heron winters along the Gulf Coast into southern Florida and along the Pacific Coast of southern California.
While courting the male raises neck plumes, swells the throat and calls while hopping from one foot to the other. The crest feathers are also raised when ever the bird is threatened or otherwise excited.
A Clutch consists of 3 to 6 pale blue-green eggs laid in a loose nest of interwoven sticks and twigs placed low in a tree or in a dense thicket over or near water. The eggs are incubated for 21 to 25 days and hatch asynchronously. The young become expert climber and leave the nest after 5 weeks. They may be fed regurgitant material by the parents up to 30 days after leaving the nest.
The diet consists mainly of fish which it catches with a jab of its bill while slowly stalking its prey or by patiently waiting motionless for food to come its way. Insects as well as small vertebrates and invertebrates make up the remainder of the diet.
Length 16 to 22 inches
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