Cuban CICONIIFORMES - Egrets, Herons, Storks, Vultures

The birds in this order are found in all parts of the world and often live in colonies. They live near or on the water and most have long necks, long bills, long legs, and non-webbed feet. They eat fish, amphibians, and crustaceans. There are around 18 species of birds in this order found in four families found in Cuba.

Storks are members of the Ciconiidae family. There is one species of stork found in Cuba, the wood stork.

Herons, egrets, bitterns are members of the Ardeidae family. There are 11 species of in this family found in Cuba, including the great blue heron, the great egret, the cattle egret, and the least bittern.

Ibises and spoonbills make up the Threskiornithidae family. There are three species in this family found in Cuba, the white ibis, the glossy ibis, and the roseate spoonbill.

The Cathartidae family are the New World vultures. There is one species of New World vulture found in Cuba, the turkey vulture.

Birds of Cuba >>

Birds of Cuba Photo Gallery >>

Cuban CICONIIFORMES - Egrets, Herons, Storks, Vultures

Least Concern Near Threatened Vulnerable Endangered Critically Endangered Extinct in the Wild Extinct
Status and range is taken from ICUN Redlist. If no status is listed, there is not enough data to establish status.

US Status Key
Threatened in US Threatened in NH Endangered in US Endangered in NH Introduced Breeds in NH (Birds)
Status taken from US Fish and Wildlife and NH Fish and Game

Location
Africa Asia Australia/Oceania Europe North America South America NH Click for More Info Click for Image

Species	Sounds	Occurrence
Wood Stork - Mycteria americana		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Andrew Spencer
Cattle Egret- Bubulcus ibis		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Miguel Angel Roda
Green Heron - Butorides virescens		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Chris Parrish
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Andrew Spencer
Great Egret- Casmerodius albus		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Sjoerd Mayer
Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Doug Knapp
Reddish Egret - Egretta rufescens		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Andrew Spenser
Snowy Egret - Egretta thula		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Miguel Angel Roda
Tricolored Heron- Egretta tricolor		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Andrew Spencer
Least Bittern - Ixobrychus exilis		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Robin Carter
Black-crowned Night Heron-Nycticorax nycticorax		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Miguel Angel Roda
Yellow-crowned Night Heron-Nyctanassa violacea		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Doug Knapp
White Ibis - Eudocimus albus		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Doug Knapp
Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellus		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Allen T. Chartier
Roseate Spoonbill - Platalea ajaja		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Robin Carter
Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura		Year-round
	Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Alvaro Riccetto

Additional Information

Key: Profile Photos Video Audio

Wood Stork - Mycteria americana
The wood stork is the only stork that breeds in the United States.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Wood Stork - Mycteria americana
The wood stork places its open bill in the water; when it feels a fish touch its bill, it snaps it closed.
Source: National Geographic Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Wood Stork - Mycteria americana
The wood stork has a bald black head and neck and a white body.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
The cattle egret gets its name from its habit of wandering alongside herds of cattle.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
The cattle egret is native to Africa and Asia. Itt made its own way to other continents and was first reported in the United States in 1941.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
The cattle egret often looks like it is hunched over. It has short legs and a thick neck compared to other species of egrets.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Green Heron - Butorides virescens
The green heron is sometimes called the green-backed heron. It is a small heron, about the size of a large crow.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Green Heron - Butorides virescens
The green heron is one of the few tool-using birds. It drops bait into the water and snatches up the small fish that take the bait.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Green Heron - Butorides virescens
The green heron has a dark head with a small black crest. Its back and wings are dark gray-green to dark gray-blue.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
The great blue heron is the largest heron in North America.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
An all white form of the great blue heron is found from southern Florida into the Caribbean, and used to be considered a separate species, the "Great White Heron."
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
The great blue heron is found year-round in freshwater and saltwater habitats from southern Alaska to Central America.
Source: National Audubon Society Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
The great blue heron has a six-foot wingspan.
Source: Seattle Audubon Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Great Egret - Casmerodius albus
The great egret is found in wetlands.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Great Egret - Casmerodius albus
The great egret is also known as the great white egret.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Great Egret - Casmerodius albus
The great egret is a tall, white wading bird found on every continent except Antarctica.
Source: National Audubon Society Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Great Egret - Casmerodius albus
The great egret stabs its prey with its long sharp bill and swallows the prey whole.
Source: National Geographic Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea
Adult little blue herons are slate blue. Immature little blue herons are white.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea
The little blue heron breeds in freshwater and estuarine habitats.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea
Little blue herons breed along the Atlantic coast from southern Maine to Florida.
Source: National Audubon Society Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea
In the U.S., the little blue Heron is found along the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Florida, but it is most abundant along the Gulf of Mexico.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Reddish Egret - Egretta rufescens
In the U.S., the reddish egret is found on the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana and in the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of southern Florida.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Reddish Egret - Egretta rufescens
The reddish egret is often seen running, jumping, and spinning in its pursuit of fish.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Reddish Egret - Egretta rufescens
The reddish egret is the rarest and least well-known of the North American herons.
Source: National Audubon Society Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
In breeding season, the snowy egret has lacy plumes on its head, neck, and back.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
The snowy egret has black legs and yellow fee.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
Snowy Egrets mainly breed along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, from Maine and Oregon southward.
Source: National Audubon Society Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
The snowy egret is found throughout North, Central, and South America as well as the Caribbean.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor
The tricolored heron is also known as the Louisiana heron.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor
The tricolored heron has slate blue feathers on most of its body except for a white chest and belly and a rust-colored neck.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor
The tricolored heron is found in shallow marshes and shores.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor
The Tricolored heron uses its long toes to churn up food in the mud as it walks through shallow water.
Source: National Audubon Society Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Least Bittern - Ixobrychus exilis
The least bittern breeds in the central and eastern United States. It winters in Florida, Mexico, and Central and South America.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Least Bittern - Ixobrychus exilis
When startled, the least bittern sometimes stands motionless and points its bill straight up in the air in an attempt to blend in with the tall marsh vegetation.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Black-crowned Night-heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
The black-crowned night-heron is most active at dusk and at night.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Black-crowned Night-heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
Black-crowned Night-Herons are 25 inches long and have a wingspan of 44 inches.
Source: National Audubon Society Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Black-crowned Night-heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
Black-crowned night herons are found in a variety of wetland habitats such as swamps, streams, rivers, marshes, mud flats and the edges of lakes that have become overgrown with rushes and cattails.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Black-crowned Night-heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
Black-crowned night-herons are gregarious and are often seen in very large groups.
Source: Seattle Audubon Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Black-crowned Night-heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
The black-crowned night-heron is one of the most common herons in the northern United States.
Source: National Zoo Intended Audience: Students Reading Level: Middle School

Black-crowned Night-heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
The black-crowned night heron is known as the Aukuu in Hawaii!
Source: Honolulu Zoo Intended Audience: Students Reading Level: Element ay School

Yellow-crowned Night Heron - Nyctanassa violacea
The yellow-crowned night heron breeds from southern New England south to Florida and west to Texas. It also breeds along the Mississippi River. It is also found in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

White Ibis - Eudocimus albus
The white ibis is found on the Atlantic Coast from Virginia south to Florida and along the Gulf Coast west to Texas. It is also found in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

White Ibis - Eudocimus albus
The white ibis nests and feeds in large groups. Nesting colonies may include thousands of birds. 
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellus
The glossy ibis is found along the east coast of the United States from Maine to Texas. In the winter, it lives from the Carolinas south to Florida and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. It is also found in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Africa, southern Eurasia, and Australia.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellus
The glossy ibis is relatively new to North America. It came here from Africa. It probably flew across the Atlantic to South America and then slowly expanded its range to North America.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Roseate Spoonbill - Platalea ajaja
The roseate spoonbill is found on the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, and southern Florida. It is also found in the Caribbean and in Central and South America.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura
The turkey vulture has a bright red head and face.
Source: Arkive Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura
The turkey vulture is found throughout the the U.S., except for in Alaska and Hawaii.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School

Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura
Turkey vultures usually roost in large groups at night, but search for food alone during the day.
Source: Animal Diversity Web Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School