Hot Off The Press: Melantisic Green Heron

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Hot Off The Press: Melantisic Green Heron

November 23, 2012 by Andrew McLachlan

As readers of this blog will remember, about a year and half ago I had the pleasure of photographing an unusually colored heron in Cuba’s Jardines del rey archipelago, an UNESCO World Biosphere, on the island of Cayo Santa Maria. My photos of this odd looking heron eventually made their way to Dr. James Kushlan of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Heron Specialist Group. It is believed that this heron is either a melanistic or genetic variant of the Green Heron and is most likely the first record for such plumage in this species.

Below you will see the JPEG version from the latest issue of Conservator, a beautiful magazine that is published by Ducks Unlimited Canada and sent out to those that hold a membership with Ducks Unlimited Canada. The most recent issue of the magazine began hitting the doorsteps of DUC members this week and features an InfoGraphic on my Melanistic Green Heron that I photographed in Cuba. The inset image shows a normally plumaged Green Heron that was also photogaphed in Cuba.

Please take a moment to check out the Ducks Unlimited Canada website particularly the page that celebrates their 75 Years of Conservation Excellence. DUC has conserved 6.3 million acres and has completed 9,000 projects all aimed at conservation. That folks is an amazing track record don’t you think!

To see a larger version of this excerpt from the magazine do remember to click on the image.

Posted in Birds, Environment, Wetlands | Tagged bird photography, Birds, cayo santa maria, cuba, ducks unlimited canada, genetic variants, green herons, melanistic green heron, nature photography, photography, wetlands | 10 Comments

10 Responses

on November 23, 2012 at 11:00 pm | Reply Denise Ippolito

Congratulations, great find and article Andrew!
- on November 25, 2012 at 8:39 pm | Reply andrewmclachlan
  
  Thanks very much Denise!
on November 28, 2012 at 9:23 am | Reply Janet Jardine

This is great Andrew! I remember reading about this when your photo first came out. It’s really neat to hear more on it now – Congrats! Janet
- on November 28, 2012 at 5:18 pm | Reply andrewmclachlan
  
  Thanks so much Janet…I appreciate it very much!
on December 1, 2012 at 7:46 am | Reply Kyle McDougall

Very cool Andrew! Congrats on both photographing this rare bird and also on the publication!
- on December 1, 2012 at 8:56 pm | Reply andrewmclachlan
  
  Thanks very much Kyle…appreciate it greatly!
on December 2, 2012 at 11:57 am | Reply Ken R. Sheide

What a fantastic feeling it must be to not only find but also produce some quality photographs of a new sub-species in this day and age. Congratulations!
- on December 2, 2012 at 12:07 pm | Reply andrewmclachlan
  
  Thanks for stopping by Ken and for your kind words also…much appreciated!
on December 13, 2012 at 2:02 pm | Reply John Scott

We got a good snap shot of a green heron with similar plumage December 10, 2012 at Cayo Santa Maria,.. fishing at a resort’s pond. There could have been two.
Also saw a cape may warbler with brown under the chin.
- on December 14, 2012 at 8:33 am | Reply andrewmclachlan
  
  Thanks for stopping by John. I’d love to see your photos of the heron…if you like you can send them to me here info@andrewmclachlan.ca