Green Heron

Description:

These birds are stockier than other herons, and have a velvet-green back, brown body, a dark cap, and a long bill. Juveniles have pale streaks on their necks. These beautiful birds have an interesting hunting behavior in which they will sometimes lure in fish using twigs or insects as bait.

Habitat:

I spotted this green heron as it was standing completely still on water chestnut while hunting in the Hudson River.

Notes:

The vegetation that the green heron is standing on in these pictures is water chestnut (Trapa natans), which is an invasive aquatic plant that was released inadvertently into waters of the northeast in the late 1800s. It has spread throughout New York State, clogging waterways and negatively impacting native species. The density of the vegetation limits light penetration into the water and reduces the growth of native aquatic plants. This reduced plant growth in addition to the yearly decomposition of the water chestnut plants, results in reduced levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, thus impacting aquatic organisms, and leading to fish kills. The abundant growth of water chestnut outcompetes submerged and emergent native aquatic vegetation and seriously impacts the aquatic ecosystem .