Pelecaniformes (Pelicans, Herons, Egrets, Ibises, and Allies)

Pelecaniformes includes several familiar wetland birds, including pelicans, herons, egrets, night-herons, bitterns, and ibises. These birds are strongly associated with water, though their size, posture, feeding style, and flight behavior vary widely between families.

For this field-notes section, the most relevant birds are the long-legged wading species: herons and egrets standing along marshes, ponds, lakeshores, and wooded wetland edges. Their identification often depends on structure, posture, bill shape, leg color, and seasonal breeding features.

In the field, these birds are often recognized by slow, deliberate movement, upright or crouched hunting postures, long necks, and their close association with shallow water.

Orientation

These notes are organized by family, emphasizing field recognition, habitat, behavior, and comparison between similar wetland species.

General Characteristics

Structure: Often large-bodied wetland birds with long necks, long bills, and long legs
Flight: Usually steady and direct; herons and egrets often fly with the neck folded back
Voice: Often quiet in casual observation, though some species give harsh calls when disturbed
Behavior: Many species hunt by standing still, stalking slowly, or striking quickly at fish, amphibians, insects, and other aquatic prey

Members of this order occupy marshes, ponds, lakeshores, river edges, wetlands, mudflats, and wooded wetland margins.

Field Recognition

Birds in this order are often identified by a combination of:

Posture: Upright stance, crouched hunting pose, or folded-neck flight silhouette
Bill shape: Long dagger-like bills in herons and egrets; broader bills in pelicans; curved bills in ibises
Leg color and length: Important for separating similar white wading birds
Facial skin and breeding color: Lores, bill color, eye color, and plumes can change seasonally
Habitat context: Shallow marshes, open water, reed edges, deadwood perches, and wetland margins

In many cases, structure and behavior are more reliable than color alone, especially with white wading birds whose plumage may look similar at a distance.

Notes

Great Egret is currently the strongest photographed representative for this order in the gallery.
White wading birds should be checked carefully for size, bill color, leg color, foot color, lores, and overall structure.
Breeding condition can change the appearance of facial skin, eye color, bill color, and ornamental plumes, especially in egrets.
In Minnesota field work, wetlands, ponds, marsh edges, and shallow lake margins are the best places to watch for members of this order.

References

Cornell Lab of Ornithology – All About Birds
https://www.allaboutbirds.org
eBird
https://ebird.org
Birds of the World
https://birdsoftheworld.org

Pelecaniformes (Pelicans, Herons, Egrets, Ibises, and Allies)