Wildlife : Similar Species

The only other heron regularly sighted on Vancouver Island is the Green Heron. That being said, here is some information regarding many other types of Herons found in North America:

• American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus )
• Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis)
• Great Egret (Ardea alba)
• Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
• Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea )
• Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor )
• Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens)
• Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
• Green Heron (Butorides virescens)
• Black-crowned Night-Heron
  (Nycticorax nycticorax)
• Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
  (Nyctanassa violacea)

Herons are medium to large long-legged, long-necked wading birds of the family Ardeidae , which also includes the egrets and bitterns.

Within the family Ardeidae, all members of the genera, Botaurus and Ixobrychus are classed as bitterns, not herons, however the species sometimes known as egrets are simply white-coloured herons with decorative plumes, and not a biologically distinct group. The classification of the individual heron species is fraught with difficulty, and there is still no clear consensus about the correct placement of many species into either of the two major genera, Ardea and Egretta .

The Boatbill is sometimes classed as a heron, and sometimes given its own family Cochlearidae .

Although herons resemble other families, such as the storks ,ibises and spoonbills , unlike the latter groups, herons fly with their necks retracted, not outstretched.

Five subspecies of the widespread Great Blue Heron are recognized. The range of the non-migratory Pacific subspecies extends from the coast of southeastern Alaska (Prince William Sound) south to Puget Sound, Washington. In Canada, the subspecies is confined to the coast and large offshore islands of British Columbia.

Tricolored Heron has white belly. Reddish Egret and Little Blue Heron are smaller, and lack white on head and yellow in bill. "Great White Heron" could be confused with Great Egret but is larger, with yellow legs and the single head plume coming from behind the eye.