Gray/Purple Heron vs Small Adder's-Tongue

Ardea cinerea compared with Ophioglossum azoricum

Key Differences

Gray/Purple Heron is Least Concern while Small Adder's-Tongue is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Gray/Purple Heron	Small Adder's-Tongue
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Tracheophyta
Class	Aves (Birds)	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)
Order	Pelecaniformes (Pelecaniformes)	Ophioglossales (Ophioglossales)
Family	Ardeidae	Ophioglossaceae
Genus	Ardea	Ophioglossum
Species	Ardea cinerea	Ophioglossum azoricum

Conservation Status

Gray/Purple Heron

LC — Least Concern

Trend: Stable →

Small Adder's-Tongue

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Gray/Purple Heron	Small Adder's-Tongue
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	15 years	—
Average Length	95 cm	—
Average Weight	1.5 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Gray/Purple Heron

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries).

Small Adder's-Tongue

Habitat

Inhabits boreal forests and taiga within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Gray/Purple Heron

A large, elegant wading bird reaching up to 1 meter in height, gray herons inhabit wetlands, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Patient, solitary hunters, they stand motionless for long periods before striking fish, frogs, and small mammals with lightning-fast dagger bill strikes. They nest colonially in tall trees in rookeries called heronries, sometimes shared with other colonial waterbirds. Widely distributed and of Least Concern globally.