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Purple Heron Ardea purpurea   [Linnaeus, 1766]
Other Names Records Books & Links
Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ardeidae
BTO Codes: UR , PURHE EURING No: 1240
Number in Britain: 20 records/year
Conservation Status:
UK: Unlisted
European: 3 Concern, most not in Europe; Declining
Global: Least Concern
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Status in UK: (A)  Scarce Visitor
Subspecies: purpurea recorded in Britain (of 3 subsp. in the world)
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Length: 84 cm Wingspan: 135 cm Weight: M/F: 800 g    
Scientific name from: L.: ardea=a heron and Gr.: porphoreos=purple
World Distribution: local in s&ec Europe, c&s Asia to Malaysia and Africa
Habitat: Lakes, marshes, rivers, flooded fields
Diet: Mostly fish and insects, but wide variety, mostly feeds at dusk/dawn
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Records and Distribution
First Record: 1787 (Latham, J. 1781-1801. A general synopsis of birds)
Summary of Annual Totals
Distribution by County
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Other Names
Gaelic: Welsh: Crëyr Porffor
Danish: Purpurhejre Dutch: Purpurreiger
Finnish: Ruskohaikara French: Héron pourpré
German: Purpurreiher Hungarian: Vörös gém
Icelandic: Rauðhegri Irish: Corr Chorcra
Italian: Airone rosso Norwegian: Purpurhegre
Polish: Czapla purpurowa Portuguese: Garça-vermelha
Spanish: Garza imperial Swedish: Purpurhäger
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For More Information...
Books and Monographs:
   Voisin, C. 1991 The herons of Europe Poyser, London [598.461 VOI]
   Kushlan, J.A. & Hancock, J. 2005 The Herons Oxford University Press [598.461 KUS]
See Also:
All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Wikipedia entry
Recent sightings and information from BirdGuides.com
Find papers on Google Scholar
Find papers on Scirus

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These data should be cited as:
Robinson, R.A. (2005) BirdFacts: profiles of birds occurring in Britain & Ireland (v1.22, Oct 2008). BTO Research Report 407, BTO, Thetford (http://www.bto.org/birdfacts)

 

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