Striated Heron
Striated Heron
43-51 cm; span c. 70 cm. Dumpy little heron with large head and bill, black cap extends down nape in drooped crest: note black and white marks down centre of foreneck. Bill grey, yellowish below; short legs and feet dull yellow, orange when breeding. Plumage variable: dark grey above, paler or buffish below, to red-brown above and pink-brown or buff below (mostly Pilbara-Onslow region (WA), but varying with colour of local soil). Juvenile: upperparts dark grey-brown; wing-feathers with buffish white flecks; underparts streaked. Hunts furtively on exposed mud; stalks fish or crabs in stealthy crouch; may deliberately drop leaf, fruit, etc. as bait; plunges from perches. Disturbed in trees, freezes bittern-like, bill skywards. Tame around boat areas. Flies low, with quick beats of rounded wings, neck folded; yellow feet protrude from stubby tail.
- Other name
- Mangrove Heron.
- Similar Species
- Nankeen Night Heron; Little Bittern.
- Voice
- sneeze-like 'kew!', 'tch-aah', startled, scratchy 'kew, kew, chit, chit, kew', like Swamphen; explosive 'hoo!'.
- Habitat
- mangroves, tidal waterways, mudflats near same; exposed reefs, jetties, piles, anchored boats, sea-walls. In n. Aust., floodplain wetlands, swamp woodlands; freshwater lakes.
- Breeding
- Sept.-March.
- Nest
- flimsy platform of sticks in horizontal fork, usually of mangrove; 3-9 m high.
- Eggs
- 2-4; blue, green chalky or mud-stained.
- Range & Status
- suitable habitat in coastal n. and e. Aust., from Shark Bay (WA), casual s. to far e. Vic; occasionally well inland. Sedentary. Also widespread Americas, Afro-Asia, PNG, Polynesia.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Butorides striata macrorhyncha 2. Butorides striata stagnatilis
