page_title: List of birds of South Dakota
section_title: Herons, egrets, and bitterns
hierarchical_section_title: List of birds of South Dakota / Herons, egrets, and bitterns
context_page_description: This list of birds of South Dakota includes species documented in the U.S. state of South Dakota and accepted by the South Dakota Ornithologists' Union. As of August 2017, 438 species were included in the official list. No additional species were recorded in eBird between that date and early July 2020. Of the 438, 85 are classed as accidental, 32 are classed as casual, six are hypothetical, and eight have been introduced to North America.
  This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds, 7th edition through the 61st Supplement, published by the American Ornithological Society. Common and scientific names are also those of the Check-list, except that the common names of families are from the Clements taxonomy because the AOS list does not include them.
  Unless otherwise noted, all species listed below are considered to occur regularly in South Dakota as permanent residents, summer or winter visitors, or migrants. These tags are used to annotate some species:
  Accidental - "Strays and vagrants, generally fewer than five or six state records" per the SDOU
  Casual - "Seen with some regularity, but not always annually" per the SDOU
context_section_description: Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Ardeidae
  The family Ardeidae contains the herons, egrets, and bitterns. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns tend to be shorter necked and more secretive. Members of Ardeidae fly with their necks retracted, unlike other long-necked birds such as storks, ibises, and spoonbills. Eleven species have been recorded in South Dakota.
  American bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus
  Least bittern, Ixobrychus exilis
  Great blue heron, Ardea herodias
  Great egret, Ardea alba
  Snowy egret, Egretta thula
  Little blue heron, Egretta caerulea (C)
  Tricolored heron, Egretta tricolor (A)
  Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis
  Green heron, Butorides virescens
  Black-crowned night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
  Yellow-crowned night-heron, Nyctanassa violacea (A)
caption: Great blue heron
exif: {}