- Butorides virescens
Range
A very widespread bird that is split into different species by many authors. Breeds in North and South America, Africa, southern Asia and Australia.
In North America breeds over much of the eastern half of the continent from extreme south-eastern Canada south to the Gulf Coast and also on the Californian coast. Occurs throughout Mexico, Central America and the West Indies and in South America as fas south as northern Argentina including the Galapagos Islands. Northern birds are migratory and winter from California, the Gulf Coast and Florida southwards, main passage periods March-April and September-October.
Widespread in sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia and south to eastern South Africa. Also breeds on Madagascar and other Indian Ocean islands. Range also extends north on both coasts of the Red Sea to Sinai and occurs in increasing numbers in the Nile Valley.
Asian range extends from the Indian Subcontinent, the Lakshadweep and Maldive Islands and Sri Lanka east to China, Sakhalin and Japan and south to Indonesia. In Australasia breeds in New Guinea and many of the surrounding islands, on the Solomon and related islands and on the northern and eastern coasts of Australia.
Vagrants from North America have been recorded in the Western Palearctic: at least six times in the Azores and four in Britain; Cornwall in October 1889, East Yorkshire in November-December 1982, East Lothian in October 1987 and Lincolnshire in September 2001. In addition there was one present on Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands in August-September 1992. The first Icelandic record was of one shot in October 2001 and the first for France was in Morbihan in April 1994.
Habitat
Occurs in a wide variety of habitats with North American birds found in swamps, wet woodlands, marshes and coastal lagoons but Red Sea birds are entirely marine, found along shorelines on reefs, lagoons, mudflats and mangroves. Galapagos birds occur on rocky lava shores.
Subspieces
About 30 races of this highly variable bird have been described, some of which are treated as full species by many authors. Most distinct perhaps is the all-dark Galapagos Heron.
American races
B. s. virescens is found over most of North American range and in Central America and the West Indies, anthonyi in the south-west USA and west Mexico, frazari in southern Baja California, bahamensis in the Bahamas, striatus from eastern Panama to Uruguay and northern Argentina and sundevalli in the Galapagos Islands.
African races
B. s. brevipes is found on the Red Sea coasts south to Somalia, atricapillus from the rest of mainland Africa, rutenbergi from Madagascar, crawfordii on the Aldabra and Amirante Islands, rhizophorae in the Comoros, degens in the Seychelles.
Asian races
B. s. chloriceps is found in India, Sri Lanka, albolimbatus on Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipelago and Maldives, javanicus on Reunion, Mauritius and Rodiguez, in Burma and Thailand south to the Greater Sundas, amurensis is found in north-east Asia and northern China, actophilus from southern China to northern Thailand, spodiogaster in Sipura and north Pagai, western Sumatra islands, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, carcinophilus on Taiwan, the Philippines and Sulawesi, steini in the Lesser Sundas, moluccarum on the Moluccas.
Australasian races
papuensis occurs in coastal north New Guinea and islands, idenburgi in the interior of north New Guinea, rogersi in coastal Western Australia from Ashburton River to Shark Bay, cinerea from King Sound to De Grey River, Western Australia, stagnatilis from Melville Island to Groote Eylandt and the McArthur River, littleri in coastal north Queensland and southern New Guinea, macrorhynchus from southern Queensland to New South Wales and on New Caledonia and the Loyalty Isles, solomonensis in New Hanover, New Ireland, the Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz, the Torres Islands, Banks Islands, New Hebrides and western Fiji Islands and patruelis in Tahiti, Society Islands.
