The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) recognizes these 75 species of herons, egrets, and bitterns in the family Ardeidae. They are distributed among 18 genera, some of which have only one species. Six extinct species are included; they are marked (X).

List This list is presented according to the IOC taxonomic sequence and can also be sorted alphabetically by common name and binomial. Common nameBinomial name + authorityIOC sequenceWhite-crested tiger heronTigriornis leucolopha (Jardine, 1846)1Rufescent tiger heronTigrisoma lineatum (Boddaert, 1783)2Bare-throated tiger heronTigrisoma mexicanum Swainson, 18343Fasciated tiger heronTigrisoma fasciatum (Such, 1825)4Boat-billed heronCochlearius cochlearius (Linnaeus, 1766)5Agami heronAgamia agami (Gmelin, JF, 1789)6Zigzag heronZebrilus undulatus (Gmelin, JF, 1789)7Eurasian bitternBotaurus stellaris (Linnaeus, 1758)8Australasian bitternBotaurus poiciloptilus (Wagler, 1827)9American bitternBotaurus lentiginosus (Rackett, 1813)10Pinnated bitternBotaurus pinnatus (Wagler, 1829)11Stripe-backed bitternBotaurus involucris (Vieillot, 1823)12Least bitternBotaurus exilis (Gmelin, JF, 1789)13Black bitternBotaurus flavicollis (Latham, 1790)14Cinnamon bitternBotaurus cinnamomeus (Gmelin, JF, 1789)15Von Schrenck's bitternBotaurus eurhythmus (Swinhoe, 1873)16Dwarf bitternBotaurus sturmii (Wagler, 1827)17Little bitternBotaurus minutus (Linnaeus, 1766)18Yellow bitternBotaurus sinensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789)19Black-backed bitternBotaurus dubius Mathews, 191220New Zealand bittern (X)Botaurus novaezelandiae (Purdie, 1871)21Yellow-crowned night heronNyctanassa violacea (Linnaeus, 1758)22Bermuda night heron (X)Nyctanassa carcinocatactes Olson & Wingate, 200623Black-crowned night heronNycticorax nycticorax (Linnaeus, 1758)24Ascension night heron (X)Nycticorax olsoni Bourne, Ashmole & Simmons, 200325Reunion night heron (X)Nycticorax duboisi (Rothschild, 1907)26Mauritius night heron (X)Nycticorax mauritianus (Newton, E & Gadow, 1893)27Rodrigues night heron (X)Nycticorax megacephalus (Milne-Edwards, 1873)28Nankeen night heronNycticorax caledonicus (Gmelin, JF, 1789)29Malayan night heronGorsachius melanolophus (Raffles, 1822)30Japanese night heronGorsachius goisagi (Temminck, 1836)31Capped heronPilherodius pileatus (Boddaert, 1783)32Whistling heronSyrigma sibilatrix (Temminck, 1824)33Little blue heronEgretta caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758)34Tricolored heronEgretta tricolor (Müller, PLS, 1776)35Reddish egretEgretta rufescens (Gmelin, JF, 1789)36Slaty egretEgretta vinaceigula (Sharpe, 1895)37Black heronEgretta ardesiaca (Wagler, 1827)38Pacific reef heronEgretta sacra (Gmelin, JF, 1789)39Chinese egretEgretta eulophotes (Swinhoe, 1860)40Snowy egretEgretta thula (Molina, 1782)41Little egretEgretta garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766)42Dimorphic egretEgretta dimorpha Hartert, EJO, 191443Western reef heronEgretta gularis (Bosc, 1792)44Pied heronEgretta picata (Gould, 1845)45White-faced heronEgretta novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790)46White-backed night heronCalherodius leuconotus (Wagler, 1827)47White-eared night heronOroanassa magnifica (Ogilvie-Grant, 1899)48Little heronButorides atricapilla (Afzelius, 1804)49Striated heronButorides striata (Linnaeus, 1758)50Lava heronButorides sundevalli (Reichenow, 1877)51Green heronButorides virescens (Linnaeus, 1758)52Forest bitternZonerodius heliosylus (Lesson, RP & Garnot, 1828)53Rufous-bellied heronArdeola rufiventris (Sundevall, 1850)54Squacco heronArdeola ralloides (Scopoli, 1769)55Malagasy pond heronArdeola idae (Hartlaub, 1860)56Indian pond heronArdeola grayii (Sykes, 1832)57Chinese pond heronArdeola bacchus (Bonaparte, 1855)58Javan pond heronArdeola speciosa (Horsfield, 1821)59White-necked heronArdea pacifica Latham, 180160Great egretArdea alba Linnaeus, 175861Yellow-billed egretArdea brachyrhyncha Brehm, AE, 185462Medium egretArdea intermedia Wagler, 182963Plumed egretArdea plumifera Gould, 184864Western cattle egretArdea ibis (Linnaeus, 1758)65Eastern cattle egretArdea coromanda (Boddaert, 1783)66Grey heronArdea cinerea Linnaeus, 175867Great blue heronArdea herodias Linnaeus, 175868Cocoi heronArdea cocoi Linnaeus, 176669Purple heronArdea purpurea Linnaeus, 176670Humblot's heronArdea humbloti Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, A, 188571White-bellied heronArdea insignis Hume, 187872Great-billed heronArdea sumatrana Raffles, 182273Black-headed heronArdea melanocephala Children & Vigors, 182674Goliath heronArdea goliath Cretzschmar, 182975

References