Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is in the Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns family (Ardeidae). Across the U.S., iNaturalist users have logged 361,240 research-grade observations of it in our sample, peaking in April.

Seasonal pattern in the national data: year-round resident. Counts also reflect when people are out photographing, so compare months within a state rather than across states.

When to photograph Great Blue Heron: observations by month (U.S.)

About Great Blue Heron

The great blue heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to coastal Spain, the Azores, and areas of far southern Europe. An all-white population found only in the Caribbean and Florida was once treated as a separate species...From Wikipedia via iNaturalist — article, CC BY-SA.

Great Blue Heron by state

Main season = months with at least 30% of the state's peak-month count.

Related birds (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns)

Great EgretArdea alba

Snowy EgretEgretta thula

Green HeronButorides virescens

Black-crowned Night HeronNycticorax nycticorax

Yellow-crowned Night HeronNyctanassa violacea

Little Blue HeronEgretta caerulea

Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor

Western Cattle-EgretArdea ibis

Photography tips

• Use a fast shutter (1/2000 s or faster) for birds in flight.
• Focus on the eye and shoot at the bird's eye level.
• Approach slowly and stop if the bird changes behavior; never bait or flush birds.
• Morning activity peaks in the first two hours after sunrise.

FAQ