Green heron
Images copyright by Mark A. Chappell
The green heron is a common (but often secretive) small heron across much of North, Central, and South America. Adults sport bright colors (especially when breeding); juveniles (second from bottom) are brownish and streaked. The adult at upper left was hunting water insects and fish in a pond at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area near Riverside, California, and the upper right bird was in Sawgrass Park near Tampa, Florida. The 'portrait' was shot near a small pond near Palm Desert, California. The flying bird below was at the nearby Whitewater River delta on the Salton Sea, the juvenile was standing in pickleweed at Bolsa Chica wetlands in coastal Orange County, California, and the bird in the other images below were in Everglades National Park, Florida.
