General description:
The legs are short and yellow. The body is predominantly grey, darker in the back. The top of the head is black. The immature is striated and brownish.
Conservation status:
Not Threatened.
Diagnostic description:
The legs are short and yellow. The body is predominantly grey, darker in the back. The top of the head is black. The immature is striated and brownish.
Behaviour:
Size:
36 cm
Phylogeny:
Taxonomy:
- Ardea striata Linnaeus, 1758, Surinam. Sometimes placed in genus Ardeola. Races virescens and sundevalli often raised to full species; form patens of C Panama intermediate between virescens and striatus, might be result of hybridization. Thirty subspecies commonly recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Distribution:
Subspecies and Distribution:
- *anthonyi (Mearns, 1895) - W USA, N Baja California. *frazari (Brewster, 1888) - S Baja California. *virescens (Linnaeus, 1758) - C USA and E Canada to Panama and Caribbean. *bahamensis (Brewster, 1888) - Bahamas. *striatus (Linnaeus, 1758) - E Panama and all S America S to N Chile and N Argentina. *sundevalli (Reichenow, 1877) - Galapagos. *atricapillus (Afzelius, 1804) - Africa S of Sahara and islands in Gulf of Guinea. *rutenbergi (Hartlaub, 1880) - Madagascar. *brevipes (Ehrenberg, 1833) - Red Sea and N Somalia. *crawfordi Nicoll, 1906 - Aldabra and Amirante Is.*rhizophorae Salomonsen, 1934 - Comoros Is. *degens Hartert, 1920 - Seychelles. *albolimbatus Reichenow, 1900 - Diego Garcia, Chagos and Maldive Is. *chloriceps (Bonaparte, 1855) - Indian Subcontinent, Laccadives, Sri Lanka. *javanicus (Horsfield, 1821) - Burma and Thailand S to Greater Sundas; Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues. *amurensis (Schrenck, 1860) - Manchuria E to Sakhalin, S to Shantung and Korea, Japan, Ryukyu and Bonin Is. *actophilus Oberholser, 1912 - E China to N Viet Nam and N Burma. *spodiogaster Sharpe, 1894 - Andomans, Nicobars and islands off W Sumatra.*carcinophilus Oberholser, 1924 - Taiwan, Philippines and Sulawesi. *steini Mayr, 1943 - Lesser Sundas. *moluccarum Hartert, 1920 - Moluccas. *papuensis Mayr, 1940 - NW New Guinea and Aru Is. *idenburgi Rand, 1941 - NC New Guinea. *rogersi Mathews, 1911 - NW Western Australia.*cinereus Mayr, 1943 - NE Western Australia. *stagnatilis (Gould, 1848) - NC Australia. *littleri Mathews, 1912 - SC New Guinea, NE Queensland. *macrorhynchus (Gould, 1848) - E Queensland, New Caledonia, Loyalty Is. *solomonensis Mayr, 1940 - Melanesia from New Hanover to W Fiji. *patruelis (Peale, 1848) - Tahiti, Society Is.
Habitat:
Rivers, lakes and mangroves of different sizes.
Trophic strategy:
Aquatic insects, mollusks, amphibians, reptiles and fish.
Reproduction:
The nest is a platform on the top of tall trees. Lays three eggs.
Taxonomic name: