Green Heron Hunting Along Cayuga Lake Shoreline Stock Image

Green Heron Butorides virescens PelecaniformesArdeidae Hunting at Cayuga Lake on Salmon Creek shoreline. It is a striking bird with a velvet-green back, rich chestnut body, and a dark cap often raised into a short crest. These small herons crouch patiently to surprise fish with a snatch of their daggerlike bill. They sometimes lure in fish using small items such as twigs or insects as bait. Juveniles are duller, with the head sides, neck and underparts streaked brown and white, tan-splotched back and wing coverts, and greenish-yellow legs and bill.