Date: 7/11/12 3:08 pm
From: Kurt Schwarz <krschwa1...>
Subject: [MDBirding] Great White Heron taxonomy


I'm confused about the taxonomy of the Great White Heron. Most books refer
to it as a color morph, but the Stoke field guide calls it subspecies
occidentalis. Handbook of Birds of the World likewise assigns it to
occidentalis, but seemed to imply that not all occidentalis were white. So
is the Great White Heron a color morph of Ardea herodias occidentalis?

Puzzled,

Kurt Schwarz
HowCo
goawaybird at verizon dot net


--