Green Heron (Butorides virescens) inhabit wetland thickets throughout large parts of North America, and during breeding season their range encompasses all of the eastern United States. A carnivorous bird, Green Heron feed in swamps, riparian zones along creeks and streams, marshes, open floodplains, backwater oxbow ponds, sloughs and mudflats. They prefer to hunt in thick vegetation, slowly wading through shallow water or scanning the water from a perch and ready to plunge into the water after prey.
Green Herons are one of the few birds to use tools in order to catch fish. They have been reported to use a variety of baits and lures, including crusts of bread, mayflies, and feathers. One enterprising bird was observed digging up earth worms to use for bait, and in fact studies have shown live bait to be more effective than inanimate lures. Multiple occurrences of Green Herons breaking sticks to use for bait have been observed.
Fish constitute the primary portion of their diet, particularly topminnows (Fundulus), minnows (Notropis), sunfish (Lepomis), catfish (Ictaluridae), pickerel (Esox), carp (Cyprinus), perch (Aplodinotus), shad (Dorosoma), silverside (Menidia), and eels (Anguilla). Green Heron are opportunistic foragers, however, and will consume an assortment of other creatures such as spiders, crayfish, snails, frogs, toads, tadpoles, and newts, snakes, lizards, leeches, earthworms, adult and larval dragonflies (Odonata), damselflies (Zygoptera), waterbugs (Belostomatidae), diving beetles (Dytiscidae), grasshoppers, crickets, katydids (Orthoptera), and rodents.
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