Home/Species/ Great White Heron

Ardea herodias occidentalis

Audubon, 1835

Great White Heron

T2T2 (G5T2) Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

T2T2Global Rank

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis). © Darren Clark; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis). © Alex Wiebe; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis). © Jake Dingel; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis). © Andrew Simon; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis). © Karen Brown; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis). © Victoria Sindlinger; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis). Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Public Domain (U.S. Government Work), via ECOS.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, https://www.usa.gov/government-works

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105925

Element CodeABNGA04014

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSubspecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderPelecaniformes

FamilyArdeidae

GenusArdea

Synonyms

Ardea occidentalisAudubon, 1835

Concept Reference

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1957. The AOU check-list of North American birds, 5th ed. Port City Press, Inc., Baltimore, MD. 691 pp.

Taxonomic Comments

Formerly known as A. occidentalis occidentalis; currently considered to be a color morph of the great blue heron, A. herodias. Browning and Kushlan (2022) support recognition of Ardea occidentalis as a species distinct from the Great Blue Heron.

Conservation Status

Review Date1989-09-21

Change Date1989-09-21

Edition Date1988-06-23

Edition AuthorsSahley, C.

Range Extent5000-200,000 square km (about 2000-80,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences6 - 20

Rank Reasons

Small total population and restricted range; considerable mortality may occur during a severe storm. However if habitat remains unaltered and illegal shootings & distur- bances are restricted, pops. should remain stable.

Range Extent Comments

Known to nest only in Florida, from nw Florida Bay south to the Florida Keys. Occurs also in Cuba, isles off Venezuela, and Isle of Pines, but not known to nest in these areas.

Threat Impact Comments

Formerly human predation caused drastic decline; now major threats are hurricanes and disturbance by boaters.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Coastal and estuarine areas when nesting, usually mangroves; feeds in mudflats, Thalassia shoals along coast and interior.

Palustrine Habitats

TEMPORARY POOLHERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN2

Province	Rank	Native
Florida	S2	Yes

Roadless Areas (2)

Florida (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954
Farles Prairie	Ocala National Forest	1,901

References (3)

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1957. The AOU check-list of North American birds, 5th ed. Port City Press, Inc., Baltimore, MD. 691 pp.
AviList Core Team. 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025
Browning, M. R. and J. A. Kushlan. 2022. The Great White Heron is a species. Journal of Heron Biology and Conservation 7:1. Online at:www.HeronConserva tion.org/JHBC/vol07/art01/