The Story
This is a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) that I photographed at the Fullerton Arboretum in Fullerton, California on August 28, 2016. It mainly eats small fish, frogs and aquatic invertebrates. It is one of the few birds known to use tools, dropping bait such as bread or insects on the water to lure fish. It is a small heron of North and Central America with a glossy greenish-black cap, a chestnut neck and short yellow legs. The Fullerton Arboretum covers 26 acres of the California State University, Fullerton campus and is the largest botanical garden in Orange County, with more than 4,000 plants.
I photographed it with a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM, at 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100. The arboretum preserves the Heritage House, built in 1894 as the home and office of Fullerton’s pioneer doctor, George Clark.
©2017 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Green Heron (Butorides virescens) belongs to the family Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2022), with the population trend listed as stable. IUCN does not yet assess the Green Heron separately; this is the assessment of Striated Heron (Butorides striata), which IUCN treats as including it. Source: IUCN Red List