Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
Ardeidae
The herons are the long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 64 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron or zigzag bittern in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, and tend to...
5 branches of this family, most-observed first · about 68 known species
Typical Herons and Egrets
subfamilyArdeinae
Bitterns
subfamilyBotaurinae
Tiger-Herons
subfamilyTigriornithinae
Boat-billed Herons
subfamilyCochleariinae
Agami Herons
subfamilyAgamiinae
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Ardeidae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 4929.