Whistling Heron
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Whistling Heron ( Syrigma sibilatrix ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Syrigma sibilatrix | ||||||||||||
| ( Temminck , 1824) |
The Whistling heron ( Syrigma sibilatrix ) is a bird art from the family of herons .
features
The whistling heron is a rather dainty heron with a body length of around 50 to 60 cm and a weight of around 550 g. Its plumage is mostly light gray in color, but beige to golden brown on the neck and chest and blue-gray on the lower back. In addition, it has a slate-gray eye region and equally colored long hair feathers. The elytra are cinnamon brown. Its beak is reddish with a blue base. The featherless wax skin around his eyes is also colored blue. The legs, which are rather short for a heron, are colored gray. The sexes can hardly be distinguished externally and the adolescents also resemble the adult birds, but are somewhat duller in color.
Subspecies
There are two subspecies of the white heron:
- Southern Whistling Heron ( S. s. Sibilatrix ) in Bolivia , Paraguay , Uruguay , northern Argentina and southern Brazil
- Northern whistling heron ( S. s. Fostersmithi ) in Colombia , Venezuela and northern Brazil
Occurrence
Its habitat are swamps and wet meadows. It is far less bound to open water surfaces than other herons. He is also considered a cultural follower and is also often found in cultivated land . Since it breeds in trees, it is mostly found in regions where open and wooded areas alternate.
behavior
The whistling heron feeds on small fish , crustaceans and insects . In order to catch them, it lurks almost motionless and then quickly stabs it with its beak. Unlike most other herons, whistling herons do not nest in colonies, but rather individually. They build their nests from twigs and other parts of plants in araucarias or other tall trees. There the female lays three to four light blue, speckled eggs , which are alternately incubated by the two adult birds for about 28 days. Both parents also share the rearing of the young until they leave the nest after about 42 days.
literature
- Steven L. Hilty : Birds of Tropical America. Vermont 1994.
Web links
- Syrigma sibilatrix inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011.2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2009. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Whistling Heron (Syrigma sibilatrix) in the Internet Bird Collection
- Syrigma sibilatrix at Arthur Grosset's Birds