Appearance:

Small, compact diving duck with short neck and rounded head. Males with diagnostic tuft, white flanks and black back. Females with rudimentary tuft, mostly dark brown body, with varying white feathering at base of bill. Females in winter showing much white at base of bill are easily mistaken for Scaup, but note hint of small tuft, smaller head, broad black nail of bill and no white cheek spots. Both sexes show long, white wing stripes in flight.

Sound:

Male display sound: High pitched short whistling-like noises, "pjuu-uu", not very audible. Both sexes have harsh "ahrrrr" calls like other diving ducks, sometimes with a crow-like quality.

Female:

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

Sounds:Recorded by Stein Ø. Nilsen,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license

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