From Opus

Photo by RMD

Egretta picata

Ardea picata

[edit] Identification

Dark wings, body and crested head, white throat and neck. Immature birds lack the crest as well as the dark colouring.

[edit] Distribution

Discontinuous range from in southern Borneo and Sulawesi, western and southern New Guinea and northern coastal areas of Australia from the eastern Kimberleys to Queensland and south to about Townsville.

Resident in some areas but in others appears to undergo long-distance movements. May be a non-breeding visitor outside Australia.

Vagrants recorded at various localities in eastern Australia.

[edit] Taxonomy

Monotypic^[1]

This species has been placed in either genus Egretta or in genus Ardea by different authorities. Opus is following the majority of the international taxonomic checklists and therefore lists this species in Egretta

[edit] Habitat

Wetlands and wet grasslands. Lakes and swamps, sewage ponds and farmland, estuaries, mudflats and mangroves.

[edit] Behaviour

It feeds on insects and other small aquatic animals. It nests in trees.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• View more images of this species on the ABID