Great Blue Heron vs Cinnamon Bittern
Ardea herodias compared with Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Great Blue Heron | Cinnamon Bittern |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Ardea herodias | Ixobrychus cinnamomeus |
| Order | Pelecaniformes | Pelecaniformes |
| Family | Ardeidae | Ardeidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 117.0 cm (46.1 in) | — |
| Wingspan | 183.0 cm (72.0 in) | 28.9 cm (11.4 in) |
| Weight | 2400.0 g (84.66 oz) | 126.5 g (4.46 oz) |
| Diet | Primarily fish, also frogs, snakes, small mammals, insects, and other birds. Hunts by standing motionless … | -- |
| Clutch Size | 2-7 | 2-6 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Great Blue Heron
Wetlands of all types including marshes, swamps, riverbanks, lake edges, and coastal shores. Also hunts in fields and meadows.
Song & Call Comparison
Great Blue Heron
Deep, harsh, croaking 'frahnk-frahnk' call in flight. Also gives low guttural grunts at the nest. Alarmed birds give repeated croaks. Mostly silent for such a large wader.
Cinnamon Bittern
Geographic Range & Migration
Great Blue Heron
North and Central America from Alaska and southern Canada to the Caribbean and Galapagos Islands.
Cinnamon Bittern
Conservation Status
Great Blue Heron
Cinnamon Bittern
How to Tell Them Apart
Great Blue Heron
Blue-grey body with a white head bearing a broad black stripe extending to a long black plume. Rufous-brown thighs. In flight, the neck is folded into an S-shape.
Long, dagger-like yellowish bill
Cinnamon Bittern
About These Birds
Great Blue Heron
The great blue heron is the largest heron in North America, standing up to 1.4 meters tall. These patient hunters can stand motionless for extended periods before striking at prey with remarkable speed. They nest in large colonies called heronries, often returning to the same site year after year.
Cinnamon Bittern
The Cinnamon Bittern (Ixobrychus cinnamomeus) is a small heron of the family Ardeidae distributed across South and Southeast Asia. As the common name suggests, adult males are predominantly rich cinnamon-brown to chestnut-rufous on the head, neck, breast, and upperparts, making them one of the most uniformly colored members of the genus Ixobrychus. Females are similar but browner and more streaked on the breast and upperparts. Both sexes show pale buff underparts with a darker median stripe. Total length is 38–40 …