Green Heron Portrait II

by Dawn Currie

Title

Green Heron Portrait II

Artist

Dawn Currie

Medium

Photograph - Digital

Description

Photographic artwork by Dawn Currie. Green Heron near Melbourne, Florida.

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Green Heron (Butorides virescens): Green Herons are common and widespread, but they can be hard to see at first. Whereas larger herons tend to stand prominently in open parts of wetlands, Green Herons tend to be at the edges, in shallow water, or concealed in vegetation. From a distance, the Green Heron is a dark, stocky bird hunched on slender yellow legs at the water's edge, often hidden behind a tangle of leaves. Seen up close, it is a striking bird with a velvet-green back, rich chestnut body, and a dark cap often raised into a short crest.

These small herons crouch patiently to surprise fish with a snatch of their dagger-like bill. They sometimes lure in fish using small items such as twigs or insects as bait, making them one of the world's few tool-using bird species. It creates fishing lures with bread crusts, insects, earthworms, twigs, feathers, and other objects, dropping them on the surface of the water to entice small fish.

The Green Heron has a large range, estimated globally at 3,050,000 square kilometers. It is native to North and Central America and many surrounding island territories, though it has been spotted in Greenland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

I have observed these birds in a variety of locations throughout Brevard County Florida, including Gleason Park in Indian Harbour Beach, along the river in Melbourne (where this photo was taken), and the Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands in Viera Florida.

Uploaded

January 28th, 2014

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