Kauaʻi Conservation Atlas

Kauaʻi record · kba_bird_great_blue_heron

Great Blue Heron

Ardea herodias

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Great Blue Heron — Adult left · immature right
Great Blue Heron — Adult left · immature right · OpenAI image generation; Atlas deterministic typesetting · AI-generated artwork; no third-party photograph reproduced · Image source

About Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is recorded as a vagrant on Kauaʻi in the Bishop Museum's 2017 island checklist. This is a documented island occurrence, not a claim of an individual sighting in 2026.

Kauaʻi evidence

Bishop Museum island checklist (version 2, 2017) lists Kauaʻi status V: vagrant. See original island table. A Hawaiʻi-level record is available, but the species needs a documented Kauaʻi observation before local ecological conclusions are drawn.

Occurrence evidence

bishop_island_checklist_2017

Names and classification

Scientific name
Ardea herodias
Common names
Great Blue Heron
Family
Ardeidae
Order
Pelecaniformes
Record type
Species

Kauaʻi occurrence and status

Kauaʻi occurrence
Kauaʻi documented: vagrant (2017 island checklist)
Origin
Indigenous visitor
Conservation status
Not assessed
Evidence date
2026-09-13
Evidence limits
Island occurrence supported by the 2017 checklist; abundance and current year presence are not established here

Habitat and ecology

Habitats
Marine Seabird
Food and resource needs
Food and resources may include marine prey such as fish, squid, crustaceans, areas schooling prey, carrion, or kleptoparasitic food pathways depending on the seabird role
Reproduction
Breeding on Kauaʻi is not established; seasonal resting and foraging habitat may be relevant.
Shelter
Shelter and structure within marine seabird.

Threats and conservation

Threats
Misidentification and vagrant status uncertainty
Conservation actions
Require photo-vouchered place/date records before ecological confirmed
Monitoring
Document date, place, observer, habitat, behavior, and supporting media for any Kauaʻi observation.
Data gaps
Update island status with dated contemporary records · Specific Kauaʻi habitat and abundance need local evidence

Process and seasonal context

Seasonal timing
Uncommon Nonbreeding Visitor Watchlist
Seasonal description
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is recorded as a vagrant on Kauaʻi in the Bishop Museum's 2017 island checklist. This is a documented island occurrence, not a claim of an individual sighting in 2026.

Sources and further reading

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