Great Blue Heron vs Ascension Night-heron
Ardea herodias compared with Nycticorax olsoni
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Great Blue Heron | Ascension Night-heron |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Ardea herodias | Nycticorax olsoni |
| Order | Pelecaniformes | Pelecaniformes |
| Family | Ardeidae | Ardeidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Not Evaluated |
| Length | 117.0 cm (46.1 in) | — |
| Wingspan | 183.0 cm (72.0 in) | — |
| Weight | 2400.0 g (84.66 oz) | 624.57 g (22.03 oz) |
| Diet | Primarily fish, also frogs, snakes, small mammals, insects, and other birds. Hunts by standing motionless … | -- |
| Clutch Size | 2-7 | -- |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Shared Habitats
None
Great Blue Heron only
Ascension Night-heron only
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.
Ascension Night-heron
Geographic Range & Migration
Great Blue Heron
North and Central America from Alaska and southern Canada to the Caribbean and Galapagos Islands.
Ascension Night-heron
Conservation Status
Great Blue Heron
Ascension Night-heron
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
Ascension Night-heron
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.
Ascension Night-heron
The Ascension Night-heron was a flightless heron known from subfossil remains on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. Weighing an estimated 624g, it was likely driven to extinction by human activity and introduced predators. It is currently listed as Not Evaluated by conservation assessments.