Ardea (bird)

Ardea Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present
Great blue heron (A. herodias)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Ardeidae
Subfamily:	Ardeinae
Genus:	Ardea Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Ardea cinerea (grey heron) Linnaeus, 1758
Species
12, see text
Synonyms
Casmerodius Gloger, 1842 Herodias F. Boie 1822 Mesophoyx Sharpe, 1894 Myola Mathews, 1913 Tonophoyx Mathews, 1913

Ardea is a genus of herons. These herons are generally large in size, typically 80–100 cm or more in length.

These large herons are associated with wetlands where they prey on fish, frogs, and other aquatic species. Most members of this almost worldwide group breed colonially in trees, building large stick nests.

Northern species such as great blue, grey, and purple herons may migrate south in winter, although the first two do so only from areas where the waters freeze.