It has now been two years since we moved to Teravista in Round Rock, Texas. It has been full of good mornings on the deck overlooking our natural pond — some spent in quiet meditation, many more just watching whatever wildlife happens to wander by.
As if to mark the occasion, Nature sent a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) to visit right around our anniversary here. I have watched plenty of Green Herons at the pond, but this visit gave me two things I had not quite noticed before.
The first was the light. From a distance, Green Herons often look almost uniformly dark, and I had never fully appreciated where the “green” in their name comes from until I saw this one lit by the morning sun — its back and wings glowing with an iridescent, teal-green sheen I had missed in every earlier sighting.
The second was a bit of behavior, and I love observing wildlife behavior. In the next photo, the heron has its crown feathers raised into a short, spiky crest, its neck stretched up tall instead of tucked against its body. That raised crest is a genuine alert signal: Green Herons do this when something catches their attention — a real threat or simply an unfamiliar sound, such as a camera shutter click (I keep my camera sound off). Paired with the upright, extended neck, it is the bird going on high alert, taking a longer look, and listening to whatever is happening around it.
That posture is the exception, though, not the rule. Most of the time — and it is the pose I usually catch them in — a Green Heron hunts crouched low, its neck drawn back into an S-curve tight against its shoulders, barely visible. It looks almost neckless this way: patient, compact, waiting motionless at the water’s edge. That coiled position is not just resting; it is a spring, letting the bird unfold its neck in a flash to strike at a fish or frog before the prey knows what hit it.
Two photos, two very different birds, in a sense: one alert and upright, one coiled and ready to hunt. Both, it turns out, are just this heron being itself.
That is the story behind the shots. If you liked this post, you may also be interested in others featuring Bird of the Week, Green Heron, Teravista, Texas, and Wildlife. Until the next time, keep clicking and capturing the beauty your eyes find.
Posted for I.J. Khanewala’s Birds of the Week Invitation CLXXVI.
Sources:
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds — “Green Heron — Identification.” allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green_Heron/id
- IUCN SSC Heron Specialist Group — “Heron Behavior Terminology.” heronconservation.org
- National Audubon Society — “Green Heron.” Audubon Field Guide. audubon.org/field-guide/bird/green-heron
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norasphotos4u
Beautiful photos!
Egidio Leitao
Thanks, Nora.
I. J. Khanewala
Yes, that green iridiscence can be seen only in good light. Great you caught it in both the photos. In its sister species, the striated heron, the neck-up stance is defensive. Could it be the same in this species as well?
Egidio Leitao
I’d guess so. Since these two herons used to be classified as one, the behavior is likely the same. Thanks for your comments.
Steve Schwartzman
You did well in the second picture by capturing that much green in the heron’s tail feathers. The pictures in the two posts I’ve done about this bird show only a much duller and less obvious green.
Egidio Leitao
I lucked out that in this session the heron seems to have been enjoying the sunlight. It was out in the open and not hiding, as it usually does. I only wish I had had my Sony camera for these photos. The camera is being repaired after a minor drop while in Brazil (luckily, I was able to continue shooting while traveling). Thanks, Steve.
Wandering Dawgs
Igidio, your Green Heron captures are amazing. I rarely see them where I live but I have enjoyed seeing them in Texas and Florida. The ones I have seen were crouched down hunting for a meal.
Egidio Leitao
That’s the normal position I have seen several times. This session was very different, even tough in the end, the heron went into its usual crouched position (appearing neckless). Thanks for your compliment.
margaret21
A very different kind of heron from our familiar greys. That warning crest is interesting.
Egidio Leitao
Isn’t it? I rarely seen that crest. I may have noticed only once before. Thanks for commenting.
Anne Sandler
This was a great observation and image of the heron.
Egidio Leitao
Thanks, Anne.