Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)Distribution and seasonality in the UK
Status not yet classified · reporting peaks May · Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns · BOU category A
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.
Purple Heron has been recorded in 87 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (3%) in records to 2026. Its strongest squares are in England, Wales and Scotland. Reporting peaks in May.
This species is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is an offence to disturb it at or near the nest without a licence. Breeding-season distribution is not shown and square-level counts are withheld.
- Very high
- 100% or more of visits
- High
- 2% to 100%
- Moderate
- <1% to 2%
- Low
- under <1%
- Surveyed, not recorded
- at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
- Insufficient records
- too few visits to say
- Not shown in the breeding season
- sensitive breeding species
- Lighter fill
- Few visits, lower confidence
- Small dot
- Occasional: a single record, or out of season
Seasonality
| Month | Relative to peak | Share of visits | Typical class |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6% | <1% | High |
| February | 2% | <1% | High |
| March | 0% | <1% | Very high |
| April | 41% | <1% | Very high |
| May | 100% | <1% | Insufficient records |
| June | 45% | <1% | Insufficient records |
| July | 27% | <1% | Insufficient records |
| August | 55% | <1% | Insufficient records |
| September | 51% | <1% | High |
| October | 40% | <1% | Low |
| November | 9% | <1% | High |
| December | 3% | <1% | High |