Warbla · Library
Grey Heron
Ardea cinerea · Family Ardeidae
Ardea cinerea
Family Ardeidae
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Ardeidae
- GBIF occurrence records
- 7,871,495
- Countries and territories with records
- 187
About this species
This species has 7,871,495 occurrence records from 187 countries and territories (GBIF, 21 October 2026). Most records come from the Netherlands (14%), Sweden (11.2%), the United Kingdom (8.8%), France (8.2%) and Denmark (8%); together they account for 50.3% of the total. In the Netherlands, this species accounts for 1.7% of all bird records in GBIF.
The scientific name Ardea cinerea combines the genus name Ardea with the species epithet cinerea. The Warbla app catalog lists 11 species of the genus Ardea; apart from this one, those with the most GBIF records are Ardea herodias, Ardea alba and Ardea ibis.
The catalog has GBIF record counts for 48 species of the family Ardeidae. This species ranks 3rd among them; the family’s most-recorded species is Ardea herodias. Its record count is 5.6 times the family average (1,400,081). The family Ardeidae belongs to the order Pelecaniformes, which has 92 species in the Warbla app catalog.