CLIPBOARD : BREEDING BIRD: GREEN-BACKED HERON (Butorides striatus)

Description: Small, stocky heron with short yellow legs (males’ legs are bright orange during high mating plumage); glossy blue-green back; neck is deep chestnut. The immature heron is browner above, white chest and neck streaked with brown. Average length is 18 inches, wing span is 26 inches. Formerly called the Little Green Heron.

Habitat: Marshes, ponds, wetlands; often perch in tops of eucalyptus trees.

Diet: Fish, insects, snails, crayfish, shrimp and small amphibians.

Displays: Male raises crest and neck plumes, swells throat and calls while hopping from foot to foot in front of female.

Nest: Woven twigs and branches near or over water.

Eggs: Light green with bluish hue. Length is 1 1/2 inches.

Notes: Green-backed herons have been observed using insects, berries or twigs (which are often trimmed to size) for bait. After casting the lures onto the water, the herons crouch and wait for curious or hungry fish to inspect the bait. This is a rare case of tool use and, especially, tool manufacturing in ornithology.

Breeding bird atlas: To report bird breeding activity in your neighborhood, or to get information on the breeding bird atlas, call Sea and Sage Audubon Society members Sylvia Gallagher, (714) 962-8990, or Nancy Kenyon, (714) 786-3160.

Note: Map is divided into 5-kilometer squares so that Audubon Society volunteers can more easily survey areas on a regular basis.

Sources: Sea and Sage Audubon Society; “The Birder’s Handbook,” Ehrlich, Dobkin and Wheye, Fireside Books (1988); “Field Guide to the Birds of North America,” National Geographic Society (1987); “Birds of Southern California: Status and Distribution,” Garrett and Dunn, Los Angeles Audubon Society (1981)