Belize Biodiversity Information System NAME - Green Heron FAMILY - Ardeidae SCIENTIFIC NAME - Butorides virescens SYNONYMS - Ardea striata Linnaeus 1758, Ardeola striata and Butorides striatus virescens REFERENCES - 1 and 2 National abundance, Conservation or Economic Status Reference Resident, species present all year. 43 Winter visitor - migrant. 43 Apparently secure in Belize 42 Common: high density, likely to be seen in many places 42 Resident, species present all year. 3 U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty 35 District Reference Belize 5 Cayo 4 Corozal 17 Orange Walk 6 Stann Creek 10 Administrative Unit Occurrence Temporal Reference Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve 20 Manatee Forest Reserve Sighting Dry season 10 Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve 4 Chiquibul Forest Reserve Sighting Wet season 18 Shipstern Nature Reserve Sighting Dry season 17 Shipstern Nature Reserve 32 Rio Bravo Conservation Area Sighting Dry season 22 Rio Bravo Conservation Area Sighting Dry season 25 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 39 Gallon Jug Sighting Wet season 24 Gallon Jug 6 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary Permanent 28 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary Dry season 26 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary 23 Bladen Nature Reserve Sighting Permanent 14 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 36 Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Dry season 15 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument 33 Burdon Canal Nature Reserve Sighting Wet season 9 Community Baboon Sanctuary Dry season 27 Lamanai Archaeological Reserve Wet season 16 Altun Ha Archaeological Reserve 39 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) Dry season 12 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) 5 Northern Lagoon/Southern Lagoon (Prop 22 Private land, see comments Collected as voucher 41 Private land, see comments Sighting Dry season 11 Private land, see comments Permanent 19 Private land, see comments Dry season 13 Private land, see comments Dry season 8 Private land, see comments 28 Private land, see comments 29 Private land, see comments 30 Private land, see comments 34 Private land, see comments Collected as voucher 40 Government land Sighting Wet season 21 Government land Collected as voucher Wet season 40 Government land 30 Government land 39 Ambergris Cay Dry season 26 Turneffe Reef 31 Caye Caulker 7 Hydrologic Association Reference New River Lagoon 39 Bladen Branch 14 Cox's Lagoon 5 Macal River 4 Belize River 8 Mullins River Drainage 10 Mussel Creek 12 Sittee River 13 Sibun River 15 New River 16 Raspaculo River 18 Elevation Reference 1-200 m 38 1-200 m 39 1-200 m 40 1-200 m 41 1:50,000 Quadrangle Reference 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 16 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 23 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 26 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 28 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 39 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 00' to 88 15' 7 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 24 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 38 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 45' to 89 00' 38 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 22 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 27 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 29 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 30 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 39 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 30 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 38 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 40 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 41 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 22 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 7 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 9 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 8 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 28 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 38 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 5 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 9 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 22 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 9 17 00' to 17 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' 11 17 00' to 17 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' 22 17 00' to 17 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' UMMZ 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 38 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 6 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 38 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 6 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 00' to 88 30' 10 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 00' to 88 30' 22 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 00' to 88 30' CM 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 4 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 36 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 13 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 34 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 45' to 89 00' 14 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 36 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' CM 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 17 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 32 16 00' to 16 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' CM 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 33 17 15' to 17 30'; 87 45' to 88 00' 31 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 15' to 88 30' 20 17 52'35" to 18 11'30"; 87 49' to 88 03' 26 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 25 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 19 Holdridge Life Zone Reference Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 40 Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 38 Subtropical wet 40 Subtropical wet 36 Subtropical moist 41 Subtropical moist 40 Subtropical moist 39 Subtropical moist 38 Subtropical moist 32 Marine 33 General Distribution Comments 43* Common northern semideciduous moist forest. Common southern moist-wet evergreen broadleaf forests. Common Mtn. Pine Ridge/savannas on poor soil. Common coastal/low-lands savannas, inc. marshy areas. Common mangroves lowlands & coastal beaches. Common cayes inc. Ambergris. 3* Common in northern hardwood forests, common in southern hardwood forests, uncommon in the Mountain Pine Ridge, common in coastal savannahs, common in mangroves and beaches along the coast of the mainland, common cayes inc. Ambergris. 39* Rare in broadleaf forest, fairly common in scrub 30* Airport Camp; Big Falls Rice Farm 29* Big Falls Rice Farm 28* Big Falls 21* Belize City 20* Button Lagoon 19* Gold Button Ranch; Small rookeries located on Gold Button Lagoon (ca.5 nests) and near mouth of Gold Button Creek (5-10 nests). 14* Richardson Creek & Bladen Br. upstream to Calera Caves; lower Quebrada de Oro & Bladen from Calera to Hellgate; Upper reaches of Quebrada de Oro; Hellgate upstream to Esperanza Bank and Ramos Quebrada; Pine Ridge towards Richardson Peak 13* Possum Point Biological Station 11* Sighted at or within 5 mile radius of Chaa Creek Cottages 8* Banana Bank Ranch 4* Francelia Camp and Rubber Camp References 1 A.O.U. 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. 6th Ed. 2 A.O.U. 1985, 1987, 1989. 35th-37th Supplements. 3 Wood, D.S.,R. C. Leberman, and D. Weyer. 1986. Checklist of Birds of Belize. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication 12. 4 Miller, B.W.; C.M. Miller. 1992. Preliminary Avian Survey of the Upper Macal River: Rubber Camp and Francelia Camp, pp.55-63. in Macal River Hydroelectric Development Environmental Impact Assessment Rubber Camp and Chalillo Schemes Pre-feasibility Study - Draft Environmental Appendix. Vol. II of III 5 Hunt, H. R., J. Tamarack. 1992. Cox Lagoon Crocodile Preserve. Unpub. report. pp.4-8. 6 Miller, B. W., 1994. Belize Christmas Bird Counts, Twenty Year Summary. in prep. 7 McRae, E. 1993. Preliminary Check-list - Birds of Caye Caulker. 8 Duncan, M., W. Duncan. 1993. Banana Bank, Nov. 1, Checklist provided in lit. 9 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1993. Preliminary Avian Survey of Burdon Canal Nature Reserve. Unpublished report for the Forest Department 10 Miller, C., B. Miller. 1994. Avian Studies in the Upper Mullins River Basin, Feb. and May. Unpublished Report. 11 Carnegie Ornithological Group and Mass Audubon Ornithological Group, compilers. 1993. Chaa Creek Bird List. Unpublished list. 12 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1987. Conservation of a Critical Marsh and Lowland habitat, Mussel Creek drainage system, Belize, C.A. Report to NYZS/Wildlife Conservation Society. 13 Anon. 1993. Bird Checklist for Possum Point Biological Station, Sittee River, Belize 14 Brokaw, N. L. V., T. L. Lloyd-Evans. 1987. The Bladen Branch Wilderness. p.38-42. Unpublished report. 15 Anon. 1994. Monkey Bay Checklist of Birds. Unpublished list. 16 Noble, B., B. Stewart, J. Dillon. 1994. Lamanai Bird List, Mid-October 1993 - 16 March 1994. 17 Meerman, J. 1993. Checklist of the Birds of the Shipstern Nature Reserve, Occasional Papers of the Belize Natural History Society. 2(10). pp. 71-81. 18 Mallory, E. 1991. Survey of Birds and their Habitats, of the Joint Services Scientific Expedition to Upper Raspaculo, Maya Mountains, Belize. 19 Platt, S. 1993. Wildlife Survey of Gold Button Ranch, Belize. Unpublished report. 20 Reichelt, B., C. Philcox. 1994. DRAFT - Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve Natural History Studies. Unpublished report. 21 McDuffie, P. 1993. Personal Bird List for Belize: September 1, 1989 - December 15, 1993. Unpublished list. 22 Russell, S. M. 1964. A Distributional Study of the Birds of British Honduras. Ornithological Monographs No. 1, A.O.U. 23 Wood, D. S., R. C. Leberman. 1987. Results of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Expeditions to Belize. III. Distributional Notes on the Birds of Belize. Annals Carnegie Museum. 56(6):137-160. 24 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1994. A working checklist of the birds of Gallon Jug. Unpublished list. 25 Anon. 1994 (August). Working Checklist, Birds of Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area. Unpublished list. 26 Forsythe, D. 1994. Unpublished Belize Trip list June 18-21. 27 O'Connell, S. 1987. in Horwich, R. H. and J. Lyon. The Community Baboon Sanctuary, A Guide Book. Orangu-tan Press, Gays Mills, WI. pp. 113. 28 Counsell, D.J.R., B. Etheridge. 1986. RAFOS Expedition to Belize. Unpublished report. 29 Hallchurch, T.T., compiler. 1982. Exercise King Vulture Belize 23 Feb.- 16 March. Unpub. report for the British Army Bird Watching Society. 30 Jenkins, P. G. 1982. The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society Belize Expedition, 1981. 80.pp Unpublished report. 31 Platt, S. G. 1994. Checklist of Fauna Recorded During Crocodile Surveys of Turneffe Atoll. Unpub. checklist. 32 Quigley, H. B., B. W. Miller, C. M. Miller. 1995. Mammal Survey, Shipstern Nature Reserve, April 4-13, 1995. Unpublished report for ITCF. 33 Meadows, M. 1982. A Trip to Half Moon Caye 26-30 July, 1982. Belize Audubon Society Bulletin. 14(6):1-2. 34 Meerman, J., T. Boomsma. 1995. False Sittee Point, Stann Creek District, Belize. Biological and Physical Survey 1995. p. 19. 35 Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter B., Part 10.13: List of Migratory Birds. U.S. Government Printing Office: 1985 0-488-794. (Lists all species of migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-711). 36 Kamstra, J. May 1987. An Ecological Survey of the Cockscomb Basin, Belize. Masters Thesis. York University, Ontario, Canada 37 Vallely, A. C., A. A. Whitman. 1996. The birds of Hill Bank, northern Belize. Unpublished report for Programme for Belize. 38 Miller, B. W. 1997. Belize Christmas Bird Count Summary 1970-1995. Data from American Birds Vol. 28-50 including 1973-1996. 39 ROM. 1997. Royal Ontario Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jan. 1, 1997. Provided by Brad Millen. 40 Panza, R. 1997. Carnegie Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jun. 1, 1997. 41 Hinshaw, J. 1997. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology bird holdings through Jun. 1, 1997. 42 Miller, B.W., C.M. Miller. 1997. Avian Risk Assessment for Belize, Species at Risk and of Conservation Concern. Report to Programme for Belize/TNC Wings of America Program. 43 Garcia, J., S. Matola, M. Meadows, and C. Wright. 1994. A Checklist of the Birds of Belize. WWF-US. 35p.
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01/19/98