Green-backed heron
"Green-backed heron" is a collective term for certain herons. Small and compact among herons, these birds often feature green plumage – rare among the Ardeidae –, in particular on the back, wings and scapulars.
They were formerly believed to make up a single species Butorides striata, but are now treated as three largely allopatric species:
- Striated heron, Butorides striata – Widespread throughout the Old World tropics and in South America (Note that the grammatical gender of the specific name has been corrected from striatus)
- Lava heron, Butorides sundevalli – Endemic to the Galápagos Islands off Ecuador
- Green heron, Butorides virescens – Widespread from temperate North America south to Panama
These herons are tool-using animals. They are regularly seen picking up objects to use as a fishing lure, attracting prey fish.[1]
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Striated heron on the Galápagos Islands -
Lava heron on the Galápagos Islands -
Footnotes
- ^ Norris (1975), Boswall (1983), Walsh et al. (1985), Robinson (1994)
References
- Boswall, J. (1983): Tool-using and related behavior in birds: more notes. Avicultural Magazine 89: 94-108.
- Norris, D. (1975): Green Heron (Butorides virescens) uses feather lure for fishing. American Birds 29: 652–654.
- Robinson, S.K. (1994): Use of bait and lures by Green-backed herons in Amazonian Peru. Wilson Bulletin 106(3): 569-571
- Walsh, J.F.; Grunewald, J. & Grunewald, B. (1985): Green-backed herons (Butorides striatus) possibly using a lure and using apparent bait. J. Ornithol. 126: 439–442.
External links
- Green heron fishing with lure on YouTube
Index of animals with the same common name
This page is an index of articles on animal species (or higher taxonomic groups) with the same common name (vernacular name). If an internal link led you here, you may wish to edit the linking article so that it links directly to the intended article.
