Appearance:

Very large, mostly unmistakable bird. Grey upperparts, white underparts and yellow/yellowish bill. Keeps neck retracted when flying (as opposed to crane). May be mistaken for Purple Heron, but back of neck grey, not brown. Bill heavy and dagger-shaped. Neck thicker and less angular than in Purple Heron. Unmarked cheeks.

Sound:

Quite vocal. Most common call a short, far reaching and extremely harsh, rasping sound. At breeding ground a varied repertoire of harsh and clattering sounds.

Flight call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Appearance:

Plumage green, grey and yellow. Note bright, yellow base of primaries and sides of tail in all ages and plumages. Deep and heavy conical bill. Tail forked and quite short. Plump build. Female more grey than male, with back diffusely streaked in brown and underparts greyish. Juveniles similar to females, with even more drab colours and heavier streaking (also on underparts). Strongly undulated flight. Often appears somewhat clumsy when trying to perch on feeders etc.

Sound:

Song composed of various sequences of linked sounds, repeated in a vibrating manner; "trrrrrrrrr", "chechechecheche". Sometimes resembles Brambling when making the wheezy "rrrrrrrrr" sound, but differs in being harsher and by "pulling" the pitch downwards (or sometimes upwards) at the end. Contact call a fairly resonant "chep-chep", resembling Redpoll, but less nasal and with a fuller tone. Also a sharp, drawn, ascending "kooeee", (perhaps not obviously recognized as a finch).

Song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC