WhenToBird

Ardea herodias · Ardeidae

Great Blue Heron: When and Where to See It

Adult Great Blue Heron
Photo: mostbittern, CC BY 4.0 via iNaturalist

The Great Blue Heron reaches Iowa first, around early March, and District of Columbia last, around mid May.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
today
Second week of November

Each county is shaded by the share of complete checklists there that listed the bird, blended with the weeks either side. Darker is more often. It follows where people watch birds, not how many birds there are. How to read it.

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0%10%20%30%Jan 1-7: 14% of 1114036 checklistsJan 8-14: 14% of 824708 checklistsJan 15-21: 13% of 825978 checklistsJan 22-31: 13% of 1105853 checklistsFeb 1-7: 13% of 779772 checklistsFeb 8-14: 11% of 864504 checklistsFeb 15-21: 9.9% of 1127933 checklistsFeb 22-28: 12% of 840124 checklistsMar 1-7: 12% of 839610 checklistsMar 8-14: 12% of 870138 checklistsMar 15-21: 13% of 898456 checklistsMar 22-31: 15% of 1335637 checklistsApr 1-7: 15% of 1030617 checklistsApr 8-14: 16% of 1124024 checklistsApr 15-21: 16% of 1194575 checklistsApr 22-30: 16% of 1675723 checklistsMay 1-7: 17% of 1449080 checklistsMay 8-14: 17% of 1538353 checklistsMay 15-21: 16% of 1219898 checklistsMay 22-31: 16% of 1452282 checklistsJun 1-7: 15% of 900636 checklistsJun 8-14: 14% of 829907 checklistsJun 15-21: 15% of 773255 checklistsJun 22-30: 15% of 916255 checklistsJul 1-7: 16% of 717733 checklistsJul 8-14: 17% of 658223 checklistsJul 15-21: 18% of 638752 checklistsJul 22-31: 20% of 895727 checklistsAug 1-7: 21% of 655651 checklistsAug 8-14: 21% of 650038 checklistsAug 15-21: 22% of 654639 checklistsAug 22-31: 22% of 974928 checklistsSep 1-7: 22% of 765914 checklistsSep 8-14: 21% of 738674 checklistsSep 15-21: 21% of 750433 checklistsSep 22-30: 20% of 944196 checklistsOct 1-7: 20% of 760106 checklistsOct 8-14: 19% of 793131 checklistsOct 15-21: 18% of 728727 checklistsOct 22-31: 18% of 959954 checklistsNov 1-7: 17% of 709464 checklistsNov 8-14: 17% of 693424 checklistsNov 15-21: 17% of 653952 checklistsNov 22-30: 17% of 871137 checklistsDec 1-7: 16% of 627591 checklistsDec 8-14: 15% of 642427 checklistsDec 15-21: 14% of 775638 checklistsDec 22-31: 15% of 1132751 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Share of complete checklists reporting it, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

Pooled across every state in the data, so it leans toward states with the most birders.

States, in order of first arrivals

StatePatternFirst arrivalsPeakMost gone byPeak %
IowaSummer visitorMar 1-7Aug 15-21Nov 1-730%
NebraskaSummer visitorMar 1-7Aug 15-21Nov 8-1424%
South DakotaSummer visitorMar 1-7Sep 1-7Oct 22-3118%
WisconsinSummer visitorMar 8-14Aug 15-21Oct 22-3121%
New HampshireSummer visitorMar 8-14Aug 22-31Nov 8-1419%
WyomingSummer visitorMar 8-14May 1-7Oct 1-712%
MaineSummer visitorMar 15-21Sep 1-7Nov 8-1423%
ColoradoAll year, most in springMar 15-21Apr 22-30Jun 15-2121%
VermontSummer visitorMar 15-21Aug 22-31Nov 8-1422%
MinnesotaSummer visitorMar 15-21Aug 8-14Oct 8-1419%
OhioAll year, most in summerMar 22-31Aug 15-21Oct 15-2134%
North DakotaSummer visitorMar 22-31Sep 8-14Oct 15-2112%
IllinoisAll year, most in summerApr 1-7Aug 8-14Oct 15-2133%
MontanaAll year, most in summerApr 1-7Aug 15-21Sep 22-3013%
MassachusettsAll year, most in summerApr 8-14Aug 22-31Nov 1-725%
MichiganAll year, most in summerApr 15-21Aug 15-21Oct 15-2124%
ConnecticutAll year, most in summerMay 1-7Aug 22-31Nov 22-3022%
District of ColumbiaAll year, most in summerMay 15-21Jul 8-14Aug 22-3126%
Rhode IslandAll year, most in fallJul 1-7Aug 15-21Oct 22-3128%
New YorkAll year, most in fallJul 1-7Aug 22-31Oct 22-3125%
PennsylvaniaAll year, most in fallJul 1-7Aug 8-14Nov 8-1422%
West VirginiaAll year, most in fallJul 15-21Aug 15-21Nov 8-1415%
AlaskaWinter visitorJun 22-30Oct 22-31May 1-75.6%
NevadaAll year, most in fallJul 22-31Sep 1-7Feb 8-1417%
DelawareYear-round–Jul 15-21–37%
FloridaYear-round–Nov 22-30–32%
MississippiYear-round–Nov 22-30–32%
IndianaYear-round–Aug 15-21–31%
KansasYear-round–Aug 15-21–29%
OklahomaYear-round–Sep 22-30–30%
AlabamaYear-round–Nov 15-21–28%
TennesseeYear-round–Nov 15-21–28%
WashingtonYear-round–Sep 1-7–29%
New JerseyYear-round–Aug 1-7–28%
LouisianaYear-round–Nov 1-7–27%
MarylandYear-round–Aug 8-14–27%
South CarolinaYear-round–Nov 22-30–27%
ArkansasYear-round–Aug 22-31–25%
TexasYear-round–Nov 22-30–26%
KentuckyYear-round–Aug 22-31–25%
North CarolinaYear-round–Nov 22-30–24%
VirginiaYear-round–Aug 8-14–24%
MissouriYear-round–Aug 15-21–22%
OregonYear-round–Sep 1-7–22%
CaliforniaYear-round–Aug 22-31–19%
GeorgiaYear-round–Dec 8-14–20%
IdahoYear-round–Sep 1-7–17%
ArizonaYear-round–Nov 22-30–15%
UtahYear-round–Sep 1-7–14%
New MexicoYear-round–Nov 15-21–10%

Winter visitor in: Alaska, Nevada

Summer visitor in: Wyoming, Colorado, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia