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Bird

Green Heron

Butorides virescens

A summer resident that nests in West Virginia. Found in all 55 counties, across 5 habitats.

Here
Summer
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
5

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Summer
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
5
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in West Virginia 5

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

1 of 5

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.

SummerWinterCentral Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Ponds, lakes and their shores

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

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh)

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Cumberland Riverscour; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Swamps

Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems
Other habitats in its models (88)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in West Virginia.

  • Developed, Low Intensity Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
  • Developed, Medium Intensity Summer, only within 1,000 m of water.
  • Open Water (Brackish/Salt) Summer and winter.
  • Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune 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 Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Marsh Systems Summer and winter.
  • Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
  • Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer.
  • Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
  • Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer.
  • Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
  • Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer and winter.
  • Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
  • Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 1,000 m of water.
  • South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
  • North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in West Virginia

  • Summer: nests here, in all 55 counties.

Also found in this habitat

Plants 443

Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.

Wildlife 202

Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in West Virginia. Not sighting records.

NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources