# Purple heron (*Ardea purpurea*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-heron  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The purple heron (Ardea purpurea) is a bird in the family Ardeidae and the order Pelecaniformes. It is a medium-sized, migratory wetland bird with an adult body mass of 1.064 kg and a wingspan of 1.35 m. The purple heron is a carnivore classed as an aquatic predator, with a terrestrial lifestyle and a geographic range of 34,920,000 km². It lays one clutch per year with 4.2 eggs as the representative value, incubates them for 26 days, and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 830 g – 1.06 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 1.35 m |
| Lifespan | 25.4 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 25.4 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 26 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4 – 4.2 |
| Age at maturity | 18 months – 2 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Pelecaniformes
- family: Ardeidae
- genus: Ardea
- species: *Ardea purpurea* Linnaeus, 1766

Synonyms: *Phoyx purpurea*

## Common questions

### How heavy is a purple heron?

The purple heron has an adult body mass of 1.064 kg, with a lowest reported value of 830 g. Its wingspan is 1.35 m.

### What does the purple heron eat?

The purple heron is a carnivore classed as an aquatic predator.

### What habitat does the purple heron live in?

The purple heron lives in wetland habitat and has a terrestrial lifestyle.

### Is the purple heron endangered?

No. The purple heron is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a purple heron live?

The purple heron has a lifespan of up to 25.42 years.

### How many eggs does a purple heron lay?

The purple heron lays one clutch per year, with 4.2 eggs as the representative clutch size and 4 as the lowest reported value. Incubation lasts 26 days.

### Does the purple heron migrate?

Yes. The purple heron is a migratory bird.

### Who named the purple heron?

The purple heron, Ardea purpurea, was named by Linnaeus, 1766.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. 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
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Purple heron (Ardea purpurea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-heron