Bird

Great Blue Heron

Ardea herodias

Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 15 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 15

Male Great Blue Heron, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Daughter Dad, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 612028340. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 15
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Virginia 15

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 15

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt), a neighboring state.Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampWilliam McIlvaine, The Chickahominy Swamp (1862): wind-tossed swamp trees standing in dark water under a storm. Chickahominy Swamp, VirginiaThe Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405, William McIlvaine (1813-1867), 1862. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

SummerWinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

SummerWinter

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

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.

SummerWinter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

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.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

SummerWinter

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh); Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

SummerWinterOnly within 1,000 m of water.Pasture/HayLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Shown: Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr), a neighboring state.Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain", Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

Other habitats in its models (70)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (45)

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 Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach 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 Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
Cumberland Riverscour Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie 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 and winter.
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.
Louisiana Beach Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer and winter.
Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
South Florida Cypress Dome 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.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
Southwest Florida Beach Summer and winter.
Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer and winter.
Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water.
Upper Texas Coast Beach Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter.

Midwest (1)

Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Winter, only within 60 m of water.

Land cover and other classes (24)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
Developed, Low 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 and winter.
Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer and winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
Open Water (Aquaculture) 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.
Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
Unconsolidated Shore 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.

The model applies distance limits to open and flowing water while retaining wet vegetation without that interior limit.

All habitats

Seasons in Virginia

Year-round: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.

County or city

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Virginia, 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.