Juvenile Galapagos Lava Heron
Academics dealing with taxonomy tend to be either lumpers or splitters, with genetics playing a bigger role with technological advances. This species was once lumped in with green herons and striated herons as green-backed herons. Some have split off the striated herons and included the dark morph of the Galapagos lava heron in that group. Yet others split off the lava heron as its own species since adults are very distinctively different from striated herons. They look great regardless of their name. This image is from the archives.
Juvenile Galapagos Lava Heron
Academics dealing with taxonomy tend to be either lumpers or splitters, with genetics playing a bigger role with technological advances. This species was once lumped in with green herons and striated herons as green-backed herons. Some have split off the striated herons and included the dark morph of the Galapagos lava heron in that group. Yet others split off the lava heron as its own species since adults are very distinctively different from striated herons. They look great regardless of their name. This image is from the archives.