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

Appearance:

Large and athletic falcon. Adults slate-grey above. Underparts white with black barring. Head almost black. Juveniles with brown tone to plumage, coarse longitudinal streaking below and paler head. Differs from the smaller falcons by less pointed wings, heavier hips and short tail. Highly contrasting and broad moustache-stripe. Smaller than Gyrfalcon with a more compact silhouette. The wings are not as broad, and belly not as deep. Underside of wings evenly barred, without contrasting coverts. Flight-pattern can recall Fulmar, with shallow, stiff wing-action.

Sound:

A harsh, drawn out "kiaaaa" with emphasised endings repeated in series. Much slower than Merlin, but higher pitched than Gyrfalcon. Also shorter, coarse warning-calls.

Alarm 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

Sounds:Recorded by Jarek Matusiak,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license