Great Heron
| Great Heron | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Great Heron ( Ardeola speciosa ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ardeola speciosa | ||||||||||||
| ( Horsfield , 1821) |
The Javan Pond Heron ( Ardeola speciosa ) is a bird art from the family of herons .
features
The royal heron is a small, stocky heron with a maximum body length of 45 cm. In the simple dress, the head is striped olive and yellow-brown. The beak is yellow with shading on the top and bluish base. The back is an inconspicuous brown color, the tail and wings are white. The legs are pale greenish yellow. Overall, the bird is very similar to the Bacchus or Paddy Heron . During the mating season the bird wears a splendid dress with a golden yellow head, neck and crest and two long, white comb feathers. On the lower neck, red feathers form a collar and elongated, slate-black back feathers extend to the end of the tail. The sexes look the same. Young birds resemble the adult animals in simple dress .
The subspecies Ardeola speciosa continentalis (Solomon Islands, 1933) has longer wings and a longer beak than the nominate form A. s. speciosa .
distribution and habitat
Great herons inhabit the mangroves and swamps of Southeast Asia . The nominate form lives in Indonesia , mainly Bali and Java , but is occasionally found in the Philippines as well . A. s. continentalis occurs in central Thailand , Myanmar , southern Vietnam and Cambodia .
behavior
The great heron breeds from June to September. It nests in small colonies, often together with other heron species. He is considered a migratory bird . It feeds on small fish , crustaceans and insects . In order to catch them, it lurks almost motionless and then quickly stabs it with its beak.
swell
- James A. Kushlan, James A. Hancock: The Herons. Oxford University Press, 2005 ISBN 0-198-54981-4
Web links
- Ardeola speciosa inthe IUCN 2011 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2009. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Ardeola speciosa in the Internet Bird Collection