title: Green-backed heron
text: # Green-backed heron
  
  "Green-backed heron" is a collective term for certain herons. Small and compact among herons, these birds often feature green plumage – rare among the Ardeidae –, in particular on the back, wings and scapulars.
  
  They were formerly believed to make up a single species Butorides striata, but are now treated as three largely allopatric species:
  
  * Striated heron, Butorides striata – Widespread throughout the Old World tropics and in South America (Note that the grammatical gender of the specific name has been corrected from striatus)
  * Lava heron, Butorides sundevalli – Endemic to the Galápagos Islands off Ecuador
  * Green heron, Butorides virescens – Widespread from temperate North America south to Panama
  
  These herons are tool-using animals. They are regularly seen picking up objects to use as a fishing lure, attracting prey fish.
  
  * Striated heron on the Galápagos Islands
  * Lava heron on the Galápagos Islands
  * Green heron in Florida
  
  ## Footnotes
  
  * ↑ Norris (1975), Boswall (1983), Walsh et al. (1985), Robinson (1994)
  