Citizendia
Your Ad Here

For other uses, see Heron (disambiguation).
Herons
Snowy Egret, Egretta thula. Note the chicks in the nest.
Snowy Egret, Egretta thula. The Snowy Egret ( Egretta thula) is a small white Heron. It is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World Little Egret, which has established Note the chicks in the nest.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Subclass: Neornithes
Infraclass: Neognathae
Superorder: Neoaves
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Ardeidae
Leach, 1820
Genera

About 17, see text
Synonyms

Cochlearidae

The herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Modern birds (subclass Neornithes) are the members of class Aves that have survived into recent times and have coexisted with Humans Modern birds are Neognaths ( Neognathae) are Birds within the Subclass Neornithes of the class Aves. Neognaths ( Neognathae) are Birds within the Subclass Neornithes of the class Aves. Traditionally the order Ciconiiformes has included a variety of large long-legged wading birds with large bills Storks Herons Egrets William Elford Leach FRS ( 2 February 1790 – 26 August 1836) was an English Zoologist and Marine biologist Year 1820 ( MDCCCXX) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic In Scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different Scientific names used for a single Taxon. Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons. This is an article about a type of bird For the EGRET satellite mission see Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope. Bitterns are a classification of wading birds in the Heron family Ardeidae Within the family, all members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and - including the Zigzag Heron or Zigzag Bittern - are a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. UserPolbot. -->The Zigzag Heron ( Zebrilus undulatus) is a species of Heron in the Ardeidae A clade is a taxonomic group comprising a single Common ancestor and all the descendants of that ancestor However, egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white and/or have decorative plumes, and while having the same build as the larger herons tend to be smaller.

The classification of the individual heron/egret species is fraught with difficulty, and there is still no clear consensus about the correct placement of many species into either of the two major genera, Ardea and Egretta. Ardea is a Genus of Herons Linnaeus named this genus as the Great Herons, referring to the generally large size of these Egretta is a genus of medium-sized Herons mostly breeding in warmer climates Similarly, the relationship of the genera in the family is not completely resolved. A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic However, one species formerly considered to constitute a separate monotypic family Cochlearidae, the Boat-billed Heron, is now regarded as a member of the Ardeidae. Monotypic is an adjective that refers to a taxonomic group with only one type: In Botany, "monotypic" means that a Taxon has only For other uses of the word see Boatbill (disambiguation. The Boat-billed Heron, Cochlearius cochlearius, - colloquially known

Although herons resemble birds in some other families, such as the storks, ibises and spoonbills, they differ from these in flying with their necks retracted, not outstretched. Storks are large long-legged long-necked wading Birds with long stout bills, belonging to the family Ciconiidae. The ibises (pronounced /ˈaɪbɪsɪz/ are a group of long-legged wading Birds in the family Threskiornithidae. "Spoonbill" could also mean Northern Shoveler or Paddlefish. They are also one of the bird groups that have powder down. Powder down is a special type of Down feathers They occur in a few groups of apparently unrelated birds and thus are probably Evolutionary Homoplasies.

The members of this family are mostly associated with wetlands, and prey on fish, frogs and other aquatic species. A wetland is an area of Land consisting of Soil that is Saturated with Moisture, such as a Swamp, Marsh, or Bog Some, like the Cattle Egret and Black-headed Heron, also take large insects, and are less tied to watery environments. The Cattle Egret ( Bubulcus ibis) is a cosmopolitan species of Heron ( family Ardeidae) found in the tropics subtropics and warm The Black-headed Heron ( Ardea melanocephala) is a wading bird of the Heron family Ardeidae common throughout much of Africa south of the Sahara Some members of this group nest colonially in trees, others, notably the bitterns, use reedbeds.

In February 2005, the Canadian scientist Dr. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Louis Lefebvre announced a method of measuring avian IQ in terms of their innovation in feeding habits. An Intelligence Quotient or IQ is a score derived from one of several different Standardized tests attempting to measure Intelligence. Herons were named among the most intelligent birds based on this scale, reflecting a wide variety, flexibility and adaptiveness to acquire food[1]

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

Analyses of the skeleton, mainly the skull, suggested that the Ardeidae could be split into a diurnal and a crepuscular/nocturnal group which included the bitterns. In Animal behavior, diurnality indicates an Animal that is active during the Daytime and rests during the Night. Crepuscular is a term used to describe animals that are primarily active during Twilight, hence at Dawn and at Dusk. As an Animal behavior, nocturnality describes sleeping during the Daytime and being active at Night - the opposite of the diurnal From DNA studies and skeletal analyses focusing more on bones of body and limbs, this grouping has been revealed as incorrect[2]. Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) is a Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known Rather, the similarities in skull morphology reflect convergent evolution to cope with the different challenges of daytime and nighttime feeding. The term morphology in Biology refers to the outward appearance ( Shape, Structure, Colour, Pattern) of an Organism Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages Today, it is believed that three major groups can be distinguished[3], which are (from the most primitive to the most advanced):

The night herons could warrant separation as subfamily Nycticoracinae, as it was traditionally done. However, the position of some genera (e. g. Butorides or Syrigma) is unclear at the moment, and molecular studies have until now suffered from a small number of studied taxa. Especially the relationship among the ardeine subfamily is very badly resolved. The arrangement presented here should be considered provisional.

Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Tigrisoma mexicanum
Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Tigrisoma mexicanum
Great Bittern, Botaurus stellaris
Great Bittern, Botaurus stellaris
Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias
Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias

Subfamily Tigrisomatinae

Subfamily Botaurinae

Subfamily Ardeinae

Fossil herons of unresolved affiliations:

Other prehistoric and fossil species are included in the respective genus accounts. Prehistoric birds are various taxa of Birds that became Extinct before recorded History, or more precisely before they could be studied

Notes

  1. ^ McGill Reporter
  2. ^ McCracken & Sheldon (1998)
  3. ^ Sheldon et al. (1995, 2000)

References

External links

Dictionary

heron

-noun

  1. A long-legged, long-necked wading bird of the family Ardeidae.
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic