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The Green Heron (Butorides virescens) is a small heron of North and Central America. It was long considered conspecific with its sister species the Striated Heron (Butorides striata), and together they were called "Green-backed Heron". Birds of the nominate subspecies (no matter which taxonomic arrangement is preferred) are extremely rare vagrants to western Europe; individuals from the Pacific coast of North America may similarly stray as far as Hawaii.

Description

Breeding plumage in FloridaThe Green Heron is relatively small; adult body length is about 44 cm. The neck is often pulled in tight against the body. Adults have a glossy, greenish-black cap, a greenish back and wings that are grey-black grading into green or blue, a chestnut neck with a white line down the front, grey underparts and short yellow legs. The bill is dark with a long, sharp point. Female adults tend to be smaller than males, and have duller and lighter plumage, particularly in the breeding season. Juveniles are duller, with the head sides, neck and underparts streaked brown and white, tan-splotched back and wing coverts, and greenish-yellow legs and bill. Hatchlings are covered in down feathers which are light grey above and white on the belly.

The Green Heron's call is a loud and sudden kyow; it also makes a series of more subdued kuk calls. During courtship, the male gives a raah-rahh call with wide-open bill, makes noisy wingbeats and whoom-whoom-whoom calls in flight, and sometimes calls roo-roo to the female before landing again. While sitting, an aaroo-aaroo courtship call is also given.

Systematics

As noted above, this species was formerly included in B. striata, which at that time was erroneously known as B. striatus. The Early Pleistocene B. validipes, whose fossil remains were discovered in Florida, might have been the ancestor of the Green Heron as the living species seems to replace the extinct relative in the fossil record.

Subspecies distinction is uncertain at best. The color variation between populations is less pronounced than between birds of the same population. Migratory populations are longer-winged than those which are resident all year round, but this cannot be used to delimit subspecies as it is quite obviously is a consequence of differing habits and can be expected to undergo convergent evolution in unrelated populations of this species which just share the same habits. Thus, thorough molecular phylogenetic studies would be required to resolve the question of subspecies delimitation.

The following subspecies are commonly listed, though the validity of most of them is seriously disputed:

Butorides virescens anthonyi (Mearns, 1895)
Breeds in the USA west of the Rocky Mountains, south to northern Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Some resident, most migrate to western Mexico in winter.
Butorides virescens bahamensis (Brewster, 1888)
Bahamas. Resident.
Butorides virescens frazari (Brewster, 1888)
Southern Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Resident.
Butorides virescens maculata (Boddaert, 1783) [verification needed] – formerly maculatus
Southernmost USA through Central America to central Panama, Caribbean. Resident.
Butorides virescens virescens (Linnaeus, 1758)
Breeds from southeastern Canada to central and southern USA east of the Rocky Mountains. Winters from southernmost USA to northern South America.
Much of the dispute hinges upon the distinctness of the Caribbean and Central American populations, the second taxon in this species to be described. To describe the two most extreme views, some authors assemble the bulk of the mainland population in the nominate subspecies but treat the parapatric populations as distinct subspecies, while others place all resident populations in maculata and all migratory ones in virescens.

Ecology

At Everglades National ParkThe habitat of the Green Heron is small wetlands in low-lying areas. The species is most conspicuous during dusk and dawn, and if anything these birds are nocturnal rather than diurnal, preferring to retreate to sheltered areas in daytime. They will feed actively during the day, however, if hungry or provisioning young. Shore-living individuals adapt to the rhythm of the tides. They mainly eat small fish, frogs and aquatic arthropods, but may take any invertebrate or vertebrate prey they can catch, including such animals like leeches and mice. Green Herons are intolerant of other birds - including conspecifics - when feeding and are not seen to forage in groups. They typically stand still on shore or in shallow water or perch upon branches and await prey. Sometimes they drop food, insects, or other small objects on the water's surface to attract fish, making them one of the few known tool-using species. They are able to hover briefly to catch prey.

The northern population moves to its breeding ranges during March and April; near the northernmost limit of the Green Heron's range, breeding is well underway by the end of Ma

Thirty-eight Marine pilots got the chance of a lifetime when they reunited with a former love--their fighter plane. A reunion on 12 May at the National Museum of Naval Aviation The National Museum of Naval Aviation is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. The museum opened in 1962.

As its name suggests, the museum is devoted to the history of naval aviation. in Pensacola, Fla., brought together former aviators from the VMFA-232 Red Devils for the unveiling of a restored FJ-4 Fury. Prior to restoration, the jet (BuNo 139486) had the historically inaccurate markings of a Navy squadron. Research proved the Fury's 1957-1959 active service life had been solely with the Red Devils. The 38 aviators raised more than $6,000 to repaint Re`paint?

Retired Brigadier General Jay W. Hubbard, former Red Devils skipper, led the group. A lieutenant colonel when he commanded the squadron, Hubbard rose from private to brigadier general in his career, which spanned combat tours in three wars. His name is stenciled under the canopy of the restored Fury.

The Red Devils have a long and celebrated history. On 1 September 1925 at NAS San Diego, Calif., 2d Lieutenant Clayton C. Jerome took to the skies in a VE-7 single-seat biplane biplane, aircraft, typically of early design, having two sets of wings fixed at different levels, especially in a vertical stack with the fuselage included between them. See airplane. with the Marine Fighting Plane Squadron 3 Red Devil insignia on the aft fuselage. As years passed, the squadron designation varied and aircraft became newer and more capable. In 1933, the unit was redesignated Bombing Plane Squadron 4M. In 1941, redesignated Marine Scouting Bombing Squadron 232, the Red Devils suffered loss or severe damage to 19 of 20 aircraft during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Redesignated Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 232 in 1943, the squadron flew against enemy shipping, airfields and installations throughout the Pacific until August 1945. On 16 November of that year, the squadron arrived at San Diego and was deactivated.

On 3 June 1948 the Red Devils were reactivated as Marine Fighting Squadron 232. In 1953, the squadron entered the jet age with the F9F-2 Panther.

In 1965 the squadron became a Marine All-Weather Squadron. In 1966 VMF (AW) 232 was fully operational in DaNang, Vietnam. In 1967 the Red Devils left Vietnam and were redesignated Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232. It returned to southeast Asia in 1972 and played a key role in Operation Linebacker missions.

The Red Devils transitioned to the F/A-18 Hornet, and in 1989 and 1991 participated in Operation Desert Storm and the Persian Gulf War. Various western Pacific deployments during the 1990s kept VMFA-232 at the forefront of Marine aviation. In February 2001, the Red Devils had achieved more than 85,900 flight hours without a Class A mishap. Since January 1998, the Marine Corps oldest active fighter attack squadron has been home-ported at NAS Miramar, Calif.