South · Central Flyway
Herons in Texas
Herons in Texas come down to 12 species with regular eBird records, led by the Great Egret. Together they account for 2,068,133 of the 35 million eBird records from 2020–2024 — 5.9% of everything reported in the state.
The full list: Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Reddish Egret, American Bittern and Bare-throated Tiger-Heron. 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 Texas: 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 Egret (Ardea alba) — 499,863 records, 1.4% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
2. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) — 455,765 records, 1.3% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
3. Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) — 311,339 records, 0.9% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
4. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) — 146,816 records, 0.4% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from April to October and peaking in July.
5. Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) — 145,715 records, 0.4% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
6. Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) — 140,279 records, 0.4% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
7. Green Heron (Butorides virescens) — 126,352 records, 0.4% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from April to September and peaking in July.
8. Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) — 105,742 records, 0.3% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from April to September and peaking in July.
9. Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) — 68,400 records, 0.2% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
10. Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) — 59,248 records, 0.2% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
11. American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) — 7,618 records, 0.02% of the state’s eBird total; a winter visitor, present mainly from September to April and peaking in October.
12. Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum) — 996 records, 0.00% of the state’s eBird total; a winter visitor, present mainly from December to February and peaking in December.
When to see herons in Texas
Adding up every species’ share of state eBird records month by month, herons are most prominent in August, July and September and least in March and February. 7 of the 12 species are year-round — Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron and Black-crowned Night Heron and 1 more — so there is no month without them.
Summer visitors. Cattle Egret arrives around April and is mostly gone after October (peak July); Green Heron arrives around April and is mostly gone after September (peak July); Yellow-crowned Night Heron arrives around April and is mostly gone after September (peak July).
Winter visitors. American Bittern arrives around September and leaves after April (peak October); Bare-throated Tiger-Heron arrives around December and leaves after February (peak December).
Attracting herons to Texas 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 Texas the heron most likely to turn up is the Great Egret, a year-round resident, followed by the Great Blue Heron.
Herons in Texas: FAQ
How many species of herons are there in Texas?
12 species of herons have regular eBird records in Texas (at least 25 records in 2020–2024): Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Reddish Egret, American Bittern and Bare-throated Tiger-Heron.
What is the most common heron in Texas?
The Great Egret, with 499,863 eBird records in 2020–2024, followed by the Great Blue Heron with 455,765. It is a year-round resident, reported in every month.
When is the best time to see herons in Texas?
August, July and September, when the combined share of Texas eBird records belonging to herons is highest. Summer visitors such as the Cattle Egret arrive around April. Winter visitors such as the American Bittern arrive around September.
More birds in Texas
Herons in other states
Herons in Texas: 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: Texas 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.