Page 81 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

BITTERNS AND HERONS
Order Ciconiiformes Family Ardeidae Species Ardeola ralloides
Squacco Heron

long, streaked
head plumes
white wings
tawny-buff
back
blue-grey bill
neat, tapered with dark tip
oval shape
ADULT
(SUMMER)
pale forewings
streaked
head and
neck
IN FLIGHT
dull ochre-
brown back

heavily streaked
breast (streaks
softer on juvenile)
ADULT
ADULT (SUMMER)
(WINTER)
n flight, the Squacco Heron is obvious because its pure white
Iwings catch the eye at any angle. On the ground, however, it is FLIGHT: low, quite quick, with fast beats of slightly
an inconspicuous bird, the white all but hidden, the head withdrawn arched wings; feet trail beyond tail.
into squat, rounded shoulders.Typically found in overgrown ditches
or streams, or on floating weeds in a larger river or marsh, it is easily
overlooked unless disturbed.
Very much a southern bird in
Europe, it is found, very rarely,
as a vagrant farther north.
VOICE Hoarse, nasal croaking
call, but mostly silent.
NESTING Small nest of grass
and reeds, low down in reeds;
4–6 eggs; 1 brood;April–June.
FEEDING Stands on floating WING STRETCH WHITE IN FLIGHT
weeds or in thick cover, hunting This heron stands with an exaggerated forward The bright white wings of the Squacco Heron are
fish, frogs, and insects. neck stretch and open wings after preening. obvious only in flight, low over a marsh.
SIMILAR SPECIES
OCCURRENCE
LITTLE BITTERN 32; darker CATTLE EGRET Mostly in Mediterranean region in
see p.76 back see p.78
summer, in all kinds of freshwater
swamps, from weedy riversides to
reedbeds and extensive floods and
larger and
black much whiter marshes. Only rare spring vagrant
wingtips farther north.
Seen in the UK
JF M A M J JA S ON D
Length 40–49cm (16–19 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 71–86cm (28–34in) Weight 230–350g (8–13oz)
Social Loose flocks Lifespan 5–10 years Status Vulnerable
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