Pronounced are-DEE-ih-dee
The word "ardeidae" comes from the Latin word ardea, meaning heron. This family of birds includes herons, bitterns and egrets. These birds are found all over the world and typically live near water. As wading birds, they do not normally swim or dive into water, but instead walk in the shallow water of lakes, streams, ponds, shores, and along other wetland environments looking for food. The members of this family usually have long legs (except the green-backed heron, described below), long bills, and necks which often form an S-shape (Terres 1980; Palmer 1962). Both herons mentioned below are yearlong residents of Southern Oregon (Sturges et al 1990).