Appearance:

Description of main identification features in chosen species' appearance.  Some bird anatomy terms are used, and it may be useful to study the photos above to learn them. All text written by Audun Eriksen.

Sound:

Description of song and calls, and what to listen for in the audio files, and when learning the species. Some music terminology is used. Timbre: tone colour or tone quality. Ritardando: Tempo slowing down gradually. Register break: abrupt change in pitch due to sudden jump in resonating length of throat (typically in long-necked birds).

Distribution:

Link to distribution maps

Ecology:

Link to webpage describing ecology and population of the species.

Links:

A collection of hyperlinks for each species can be found here. You can easily see latest observations, additional photos/sounds and watch videos of the species without having to search for the species name.

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Creative Commons licenced photos and sounds are listed here with links. For media not listed, usage is permitted by direct appointment with copyright owner. See watermark on photos.

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

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