- Ardeola speciosa
Identification
Photographed: Mudflat, inner Gulf of Thailand. Javan Pond Heron (Ardeola speciosa) The Javan Pond Heron, Ardeola speciosa is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, found in shallow fresh and salt-water wetlands in southeast Asia. Its diet comprises insects, fish, and crabs. The Javan Pond Heron is typically 45cm long with white wings, a yellow bill with a black tip, yellow eyes and legs. Its overall colour is orange, slaty and white during mating season, and brown and flecked with white out of the mating season. The non-breeding plumage is like the Chinese and Indian pond herons', virtually indistinguishable in the field. It breeds from June to September. It is migratory. ==Distribution==Breeds in south-east Thailand, southern Cambodia and southern Vietnam, also in southern Borneo, Sumatra, and Java east to Timor. Resident.
Taxonomy
Habitat
Usually freshwater, prefers paddyfields, flooded grasslands, lakesides and riverbanks, sometimes also mangroves and reefs.
Behaviour
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