Backyard naturalist.(Life Discovery)

The green heron (Butorides virescens) is a small, stocky bird that has a dark crown, gray-green back and wings, chestnut-colored face and neck, and bright yellow to orange legs. This keenly cautious bird watches for the slightest cause for alarm, and rises into flight with a sharp squawk when flushed unexpectedly.

Green Herons nest in colonies in northeastern wetlands that are sheltered by clumps of trees and dense thickets. Once the breeding season ends, they prefer a more solitary existence of wandering, hunting, foraging or sitting quietly and inconspicuously hunched near shallow waters, until it is time to …