The herons and egrets make up the Ardeidae family. Species belonging to genus Ardea are usually considered to be herons and those belonging to genus Egretta are called egrets. However, there is no clear distinction between herons and egrets. Those species that are white or have fancy plumage are usually called egrets. Bitterns also belong to the Ardeidae family.A common feature of the Ardeidae species is that they fly with their necks retracted, unlike the ibis that fly with their necks outstretched


Bitterns

Genus Ixobrychus

Bittern, Little  Ixobrychus minutus   Found: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia 
Photographed by: 1) Marek Szczepanek



HERONS

Genus Ardea
This genus contains two species that are commonly referred to as egrets: the Great Egret and Intermediate Egret!


Egret, Great aka Great White Egret Ardea alba   Found: The Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia
Photographed by: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) Dick Daniels, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Australia
    8) Sandy Cole - Flamingo Gardens in Floridas
2, 8) Breeding plumage 



Heron, Black-headed Ardea melanocephala   Found: Africa
Photographed by: 1) Arno Meintjes   2) Lip Kee Yap - Nakuru, Kenya  3)  Darren Bellerby - Maasai Mara, Kenya
    4) Dick Daniels - South Africa  5) Dick - Tanzania    6) Dick - Tanzania



Heron, Goliath Ardea goliath   Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
Photographed by:  1) Arno Meintjes  2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels - St. Lucia, South Africa
   5) Sandy Cole - St. Lucia, South Africa  6) Dick - St. Lucia, South Africa 
   7) Dick - the Jacksonville Zoo in Florida  8) Dick - San Diego Zoo
1) Breeding



Heron, Grey Ardea cinerea Found: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia
Photographed by:  1, 2) Arno Meintjes  3) Dick Daniels - Scotland  4) Dick - Scotland  
    5) Dick - South Africa  6) Dick - Nepal  7) Dick - Tanzania 



Heron, Purple  Ardea purpurea  Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
Photographed by:  1) Dick Daniels - Plettenberg Bay, South Africa  2) Dick - St. Lucia, South Africa
    3) Sandy Cole - St. Lucia   4) Steve Garvie - Kenya



Genus Ardeola

Heron, Chinese Pond Ardeola bacchus Found: Asia
 Photographed by:1) kclama  2, 3) Lip Kee   4, 5) JJ Harrison - Thailand
1) Breeding



Heron, Indian Pond  Ardeola grayii   Found: India, Africa
Photographed by:  1) Kaippally  2,  3) J M Garg - Kolkata, West Bengal, India 4) Dick Daniels - Jacksonville Zoo in Florida
1) Nonbreeding  2, 3, 4) Breeding


Heron, Malagasy Pond  aka Madagascar Pond Heron  Ardeola idae  Found: Africa
Photographed by:  1) Carol Foil - Rift Valley, Kenya


Heron, Rufous-bellied  Ardeola rufiventris found: Africa
Photographed by: Lip Kee Yap


Heron, Squacco   Ardeola ralloides  Found: Europe, Asia, Africa
Photographed by: 1, 2) Mark S Jobling - Greece  



Genus Butorides

Heron, Striated aka Little Heron aka Green-backed Heron Butorides striatus Found: South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia
Photographed by: 1) Dick Daniels - Australia   2) Dick - Australia  3, 4, 7)  Cláudio Timm - Uruguay  5, 6,) Arno Meintjes
8) Juvenile




Genus Nycticorax

Heron, Black-crowned Night Nycticorax nycticorax   Found: The Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia
Photographed by: 1, 2) Dick Daniels - New Jersey   3) Dick - Brookfield Gardens, So. Carolina
    4) Sandy Cole - Flamingo Gardens in Florida  5) Dick Daniels- Kauai, Hawaii 6) Ted Grussing  7)Chris Queen
1, 2, 6) Juvenile




Family Scopidae - 1 genus

It is a matter of debate whether the Hammerkop belongs in the same order as the herons, Ciconiiformes, or with the Pelicaniformes.


Genus Scopus - 1 species

Hammerkop Scopus umbretta   Found: Africa
Photographed: 1, 3) Dick Daniels - Tanzania   2) Dick - Tanzania  4) Sandy Cole - Tanzania   5) Dick - San Diego Zoo 
    6, 7) Dick - San Diego Zoo  8) Sandy - San Diego Zoo
4) Hammerkop nest, perhaps the world's largest nest.