- Egretta ardesiaca
Identification
42-66cm
Small compact egret
- Black, or dark slate plumage
- Bill and legs: black
- Feet varies from yellow, through orangey-yellow to orange, sometimes with black scales.
- During breeding feet may be redder
- Yellow iris
Juvenile
- Iris: dark brown
- Bill: dark horn or black
- Legs: dark grey
- Feet: dullish orange-yellow
Similar Species
Smaller than Western Reef Heron and can be distiguished from that and a melanistic Little Egret in flight by faster wing beats and feeding method (see Behaviour)
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa: breeds widely but discontinuously from Senegal to Sudan and south, mainly through the eastern half of the continent, to South Africa.
Probably dispersive rather than migratory, perhaps nomadic in response to rains in some areas.
Taxonomy
Monotypic[1]
Habitat
Lake margins and riverbanks, tidal creeks, rice fields and flooded grasslands.
Photo by safariranger
Olifants Bridge, Kruger National Park, South Africa, March 2003
Behaviour
This bird has a distinctive hunting method. It forms an umbrella with its wings and catches the fish which are drawn to the shade.
Diet
The diet includes small fish, aquatic insects and crustaceans.
Breeding
The two to four blue eggs are laid in a twig nest which is placed in a tree, bush or reed bed.
References
- 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.
- Wikipedia
- BWPi
- BWP Concise
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Heron. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Heron
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
