Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada (B), Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica (B), Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico (B), St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, USA (B), Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British) (B) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (B) (NB).
Vagrant to Greenland, Portugal, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), United Kingdom.
Central USA and eastern Canada to Panama and Caribbean.
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Green Heron (Butorides virescens) [XC810272]
by Dany Sloan from Township Of Cavan Monaghan (near Millbrook), Peterborough County, Ontario, Canada (nocturnal flight call)
Green Heron (Butorides virescens) [XC268817]
by Manuel Grosselet from Pine Island Conservation Area, Merritt Island, Florida, United States (call, flight call)
Subspecies
Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Green-backed Heron (Butorides striata).
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
anthonyi (Mearns, 1895) - Western USA, northern Baja California. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Green-backed Heron (Butorides striata).
frazari (Brewster, 1888) - Southern Baja California. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Green-backed Heron (Butorides striata).
virescens (Linnaeus, 1758) - Eastern and central USA to Panama. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Green-backed Heron (Butorides striata).
bahamensis (Brewster, 1888) - Bahamas. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Green-backed Heron (Butorides striata).