Gaulin
Butorides virescens (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status not recordedbirds
The gaulin (Butorides virescens) is a species in the family Ardeidae, order Pelecaniformes. Recorded adults weigh 184 g to 212 g and live up to 7.92 years.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the gaulin
- Weight
- 184 g – 212 g
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 7.92 years
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 11.6 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Egg incubation
- 20 days
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.75
- Age at maturity
- 2 years
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the gaulin live?
Not recorded
Is the gaulin endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the gaulin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPelecaniformes
- familyArdeidae
- genusButorides
- SpeciesButorides virescens (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Ardea virescens, Ardeola striata virescens, Ardeola virescens
Other names and names in other languages (82)
- Green heronEnglish
- Green striated heronEnglish
- Green-backed heronEnglish
- Little GaulinEnglish
- Little green heronEnglish
- North American green-backed heronEnglish
- Pond birdEnglish
- Striated heronEnglish
- West Indian green heronEnglish
- بلشون أخضرArabic
- Зеленогърба чаплаBulgarian
- Kerc'heiz c'hlasBreton
- Martinet verdCatalan
- volavka zelenaváCzech
- Crëyr gwyrddWelsh
- KrabbehejreDanish
- GrünreiherGerman
- ΠρασινοτσικνιάςGreek
- verda ardeoEsperanto
- JoitoSpanish
- punakael-väikehaigurEstonian
- Koartzatxo berdeBasque
- حواصیل سبزPersian
- amerikankyyryhaikaraFinnish
- Héron vertFrench
- Corr ghlasIrish
- Socociño verdosoGalician
- Coar ghlassManx
- אנפה ירוקהHebrew
- zeleni gakCroatian
- zöld gémHungarian
- GrænhegriIcelandic
- Airone verdeItalian
- アメリカササゴイJapanese
- 아메리카검은댕기해오라기Korean
- žalsvasis naktikovasLithuanian
- zaļais gārnisLatvian
- зелена чапјаMacedonian
- Toohjįʼ noołnahii yázhíNavajo
- grønnrygghegreNorwegian Bokmål
- Groene ReigerDutch
- grønrygghegreNorwegian Nynorsk
- Gichi-mooshkahosiOjibwa
- Caw-cawPapiamento
- czapla zielonaPolish
- ہرا بگلاWestern Panjabi
- socó-mirimPortuguese
- Зеленоспинная цапляRussian
- RuonasealháigirNorthern Sami
- čaplička zelenkaváSlovak
- Ameriška zelena čapljaSlovenian
- зелена чапљаSerbian
- grönryggig hägerSwedish
- Yeşil BalıkçılTurkish
- чапля зеленаUkrainian
- سبز بگلاUrdu
- 小綠鷺Chinese
- بلشون أخضر صغيرArabic
- Volovka zelenaváCzech
- AguaitacaimánSpanish
- Cra-CráSpanish
- CuacoSpanish
- Garceta verdeSpanish
- Garcilla VerdeSpanish
- garcita verdeSpanish
- Garcita verdosaSpanish
- MartineteSpanish
- MatuangoSpanish
- Kayali vertFrench
- Corr ghormghlasIrish
- אנפית ירוקהHebrew
- žalsvasis naktikovisLithuanian
- kleine groene reigerDutch
- Galiña di AwaPapiamento
- garçote-verdePortuguese
- socó-mirímPortuguese
- американская зелёная квакваRussian
- Američka zelena čapljaSerbian
- grönryggad hägerSwedish
- küçük yeşil balıkçıl kuşuTurkish
- 北美绿鹭Chinese
- 美洲绿鹭Chinese
Relatives of the gaulin
Other species in the same genus Butorides.

Striated heron
Butorides striata
Lava heron
Butorides sundevalli
Little heron
Butorides atricapilla
CompareGaulin vs Striated heronGaulin vs Lava heronGaulin vs Little heron
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the gaulin?
An adult gaulin weighs 184 g – 212 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the gaulin live?
The gaulin has a recorded lifespan of 7.92 years.
What kind of animal is the gaulin?
The gaulin (Butorides virescens) belongs to the family Ardeidae in the order Pelecaniformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
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Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Gaulin (Butorides virescens). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/gaulin
“Gaulin (Butorides virescens).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/gaulin.
@misc{gaulin_2026,
title = {Gaulin (Butorides virescens)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/gaulin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}