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Herons (Ardeidae)

Green-backed Heron (Butorides striatus) - HBW 1, p. 417

French: Héron vert German: Mangrovereiher Spanish: Garcita Verdosa
Other common names: Green Heron (virescens); Striated Heron (striatus); Lava/Galapagos Heron (sundevalli); Little (Green) Heron (Asia); Red/Mangrove Heron, Red Mangrove-bittern (rogersi)

Taxonomy: Ardea striata Linnaeus, 1758, Surinam.
Sometimes placed in genus Ardeola. Races virescens and sundevalli often raised to full species; form patens of C Panama intermediate between virescens and striatus, might be result of hybridization. Thirty subspecies commonly recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • anthonyi (Mearns, 1895) - W USA, N Baja California.
  • frazari (Brewster, 1888) - S Baja California.
  • virescens (Linnaeus, 1758) - C USA and E Canada to Panama and Caribbean.

     See all 30 subspecies
  • anthonyi (Mearns, 1895) - W USA, N Baja California.
  • frazari (Brewster, 1888) - S Baja California.
  • virescens (Linnaeus, 1758) - C USA and E Canada to Panama and Caribbean.
  • bahamensis (Brewster, 1888) - Bahamas.
  • striatus (Linnaeus, 1758) - E Panama and all S America S to N Chile and N Argentina.
  • sundevalli (Reichenow, 1877) - Galapagos.
  • atricapillus (Afzelius, 1804) - Africa S of Sahara and islands in Gulf of Guinea.
  • rutenbergi (Hartlaub, 1880) - Madagascar.
  • brevipes (Ehrenberg, 1833) - Red Sea and N Somalia.
  • crawfordi Nicoll, 1906 - Aldabra and Amirante Is.
  • rhizophorae Salomonsen, 1934 - Comoros Is.
  • degens Hartert, 1920 - Seychelles.
  • albolimbatus Reichenow, 1900 - Diego Garcia, Chagos and Maldive Is.
  • chloriceps (Bonaparte, 1855) - Indian Subcontinent, Laccadives, Sri Lanka.
  • javanicus (Horsfield, 1821) - Burma and Thailand S to Greater Sundas; Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues.
  • amurensis (Schrenck, 1860) - Manchuria E to Sakhalin, S to Shantung and Korea, Japan, Ryukyu and Bonin Is.
  • actophilus Oberholser, 1912 - E China to N Viet Nam and N Burma.
  • spodiogaster Sharpe, 1894 - Andomans, Nicobars and islands off W Sumatra.
  • carcinophilus Oberholser, 1924 - Taiwan, Philippines and Sulawesi.
  • steini Mayr, 1943 - Lesser Sundas.
  • moluccarum Hartert, 1920 - Moluccas.
  • papuensis Mayr, 1940 - NW New Guinea and Aru Is.
  • idenburgi Rand, 1941 - NC New Guinea.
  • rogersi Mathews, 1911 - NW Western Australia.
  • cinereus Mayr, 1943 - NE Western Australia.
  • stagnatilis (Gould, 1848) - NC Australia.
  • littleri Mathews, 1912 - SC New Guinea, NE Queensland.
  • macrorhynchus (Gould, 1848) - E Queensland, New Caledonia, Loyalty Is.
  • solomonensis Mayr, 1940 - Melanesia from New Hanover to W Fiji.
  • patruelis (Peale, 1848) - Tahiti, Society Is.
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