Appearance:

Small and restless species easily confused with Sedge Warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, but showing both plumage and structural differences. Plumage differs from A. schoenobaenus in; broad, white supercilium ending without narrowing, dark crown (usually appears black), pure white throat, grey ear-coverts, dark legs and warm-rufous flanks, rump and neck. Facial markings recalling firecrest. Very short primary projection and longer, more evenly rounded tail recalling Wren when raised. Bill thinner than A. schoenobaenus. Skulky behaviour, forages low in vegetation, on ground or near water surface. Some variation in both size and plumage between western and eastern subspecies.

Sound:

Contact call a dry "trrrt", similar to corresponding call of Sedge Warbler. Song most resembling that of Reed Warbler (A, scirpaceus), but often includes diagnostic (unique among congeners), pure-sounding note sequence resembling crescendo of Common Nightingale (L. megarhynchos), before launching into typical Acrocephalus sounding song. This latter type can be sustained for some time without the diagnostic sequence and is more difficult to distinguish from A. scirpaceus. Note faster tempo and more variation.

Diagnostic 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

CC-photo:Radovan Václav, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Lars Buckx, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:ferran pestaña, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Small, stocky, white heron with short bill and neck. Heavy jowl. Plumage all white, except in breeding birds which show varying amount of buff on back, crown and chest. Bill usually yellow, but turns orange-red in breeding birds, and is dark in immatures. Legs pale greyish green, but darker in young birds. May be confused with both Little Egret and Squacco Heron in flight. Differs from Little Egret in leg color and shorter, thicker neck and bill. Told from Squacco Heron by unstreaked body/head, and smaller bill. Generally leaves a less elegant impression than other small herons.

Sound:

Usually silent away from breeding ground. In the colonies a chorus of various coarse sounds can be heard. Most distinct is a disyllabic "rick-rack". Other sounds includes short, guttural utterings, or drawn, harsh shrieks.

Contact calls:

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