Great blue heron

Great blue heron Temporal range: Pleistocene–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
In the Conestogo River, near St. Jacobs, Ontario
White form, possibly A. h. occidentalis, in Cayo Guillermo National Park, Cuba
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Ardeidae
Genus:	Ardea
Species:	A. herodias
Binomial name
Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758
North American range (also in far northwestern South America, not shown)   Breeding range   Year-round range   Wintering range   Present during migration

The great blue heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. It is occasionally found in the Azores and is a rare vagrant to Europe. An all-white population found in south Florida and the Florida Keys is known as the great white heron. Debate exists about whether these white birds are a color morph of the great blue heron, a subspecies of it, or an entirely separate species.^[2][3]