Least ConcernPurple Heron
Ardea purpurea
47 countries8 parks
Species group · Birds
WAnimals has 3 species of heron, in the family Ardeidae.
Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 3.
Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
Recorded in 122 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
It nests on bent-over reeds and hides by stretching its neck straight up.
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Faced with a threat it adopts what is known as the "bittern stance": it stretches its neck to the full with its bill pointing skywards and freezes, becoming almost invisible among the reeds. The chicks already do it.
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The parents carry food in their crop and regurgitate it when the chicks prompt them by grasping their bill.
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It forms a superspecies with the Eurasian grey heron and the North American great blue heron: all three have almost identical skeletal morphology.
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It takes fish of more than 20 cm, but also mammals, amphibians, reptiles and even carrion.
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It adapts its diet to its surroundings: on rivers and lakes it fishes, while in heavily vegetated areas it hunts insects and amphibians.
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It can stand completely still at the water's edge for long stretches, waiting for a fish to come close enough before striking with an extraordinarily fast stab of the bill.
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