Bird
Green Heron
Butorides virescens
A summer resident that nests in Arkansas. Found in all 75 counties, across 6 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 75 counties
- Habitats
- 6

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 75 counties
- Habitats
- 6
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Arkansas 6
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Other habitats in its models (81)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas. Those recorded in Arkansas first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (45)
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
- Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water.
- Cumberland Riverscour Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer and winter.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
Northeast (4)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Land cover and other classes (32)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer and winter.
- Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer.
- Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Marsh Systems Summer and winter.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
- Open Water (Brackish/Salt) Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer and winter.
- Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
Seasons in Arkansas
- Summer: nests here, in all 75 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Arkansas, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 97
- Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Lesser YellowlegsTringa flavipes
- Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
- White IbisEudocimus albus
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
- Neotropic CormorantPhalacrocorax brasilianus
- Northern ParulaParula americana
Plants 313
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Swamp Chestnut OakQuercus michauxii
- Canada VioletViola canadensis
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Camphor PlucheaPluchea camphorata
- PondberryLindera melissifolia
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Wolf's BluegrassPoa wolfii
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
Swamps
Birds 79
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- King RailRallus elegans
- RedheadAythya americana
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Horned GrebePodiceps auritus
- Little Blue HeronEgretta caerulea
- White IbisEudocimus albus
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
- MerlinFalco columbarius
Plants 223
- Black Highbush BlueberryVaccinium fuscatum
- Smallflower BlueberryVaccinium virgatum
- InkberryIlex glabra
- Hoary AzaleaRhododendron canescens
- Small-flower ThoroughwortEupatorium semiserratum
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Swamp TupeloNyssa biflora
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 121
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- King RailRallus elegans
- Pied-billed GrebePodilymbus podiceps
- Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
- Western SandpiperCalidris mauri
Plants 17
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodGlottidium vesicarium
- Oklahoma SedgeCarex oklahomensis
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Heart Leaf WillowSalix eriocephala
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
- White WillowSalix alba
- Zigzag JointvetchAeschynomene rudis
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Green Heron Elevation up to 750 m
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)

























































