West · Pacific Flyway
Herons in Oregon
Herons in Oregon come down to 7 species with regular eBird records, led by the Great Blue Heron. Together they account for 323,305 of the 17 million eBird records from 2020–2024 — 1.9% of everything reported in the state.
The full list: Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, American Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Snowy Egret and Cattle Egret. Herons, egrets, and bitterns are the long-legged wading birds that stalk fish and frogs in shallow water. The large species are conspicuous year-round in the South; farther north, most arrive in spring and leave when the water freezes.
Herons in Oregon: every species, most-reported first
Every heron with at least 25 eBird records in the state from 2020–2024, most-reported first. The status label is derived from each species’ own monthly share of all state records.
1. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) — 193,403 records, 1.2% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
2. Great Egret (Ardea alba) — 93,322 records, 0.6% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
3. Green Heron (Butorides virescens) — 16,930 records, 0.1% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from June to September and peaking in August.
4. American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) — 9,610 records, 0.06% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from April to September and peaking in May.
5. Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) — 8,517 records, 0.05% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
6. Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) — 1,454 records, 0.01% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from April to December and peaking in September.
7. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) — 69 records, 0.00% of the state’s eBird total; a passage migrant, reported mainly in April, May and November with a peak in May.
When to see herons in Oregon
Adding up every species’ share of state eBird records month by month, herons are most prominent in September, August and October and least in April and June. 3 of the 7 species are year-round — Great Blue Heron, Great Egret and Black-crowned Night Heron — so there is no month without them.
Summer visitors. Green Heron arrives around June and is mostly gone after September (peak August); American Bittern arrives around April and is mostly gone after September (peak May); Snowy Egret arrives around April and is mostly gone after December (peak September).
Passage migrants. Cattle Egret is reported mainly in April, May and November.
Attracting herons to Oregon backyards
A garden pond with fish will attract the Great Blue Heron whether you want it or not. Otherwise, herons are birds of marshes, lakeshores, and estuaries — look for them at dawn and dusk when they feed most actively.
In Oregon the heron most likely to turn up is the Great Blue Heron, a year-round resident, followed by the Great Egret.
Herons in Oregon: FAQ
How many species of herons are there in Oregon?
7 species of herons have regular eBird records in Oregon (at least 25 records in 2020–2024): Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, American Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Snowy Egret and Cattle Egret.
What is the most common heron in Oregon?
The Great Blue Heron, with 193,403 eBird records in 2020–2024, followed by the Great Egret with 93,322. It is a year-round resident, reported in every month.
When is the best time to see herons in Oregon?
September, August and October, when the combined share of Oregon eBird records belonging to herons is highest. Summer visitors such as the Green Heron arrive around June.
More birds in Oregon
Herons in other states
Herons in Oregon: sources
Every number on this page comes from the EOD – eBird Observation Dataset published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and distributed through GBIF under a CC BY 4.0 license: Oregon records from 2020–2024, retrieved 2026-09-18. Species are drawn from the families Ardeidae; only species with at least 25 records are listed, and a species is called a year-round resident when its monthly share of state records stays above 30% of its own peak in ten or more months. “Records” are individual eBird observations, so they reflect how often birders report a species, not a population count.