Chinese Pond Heron

Ardeola bacchus

Family: Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns · Status: Common migrant · Size: 45–52 cm · Conservation: Least Concern

Range

Breeds from northeastern India and China to Japan, wintering south to the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Indochina, Borneo and Sumatra.

Identification

Breeding adult has chestnut-maroon head, head-plumes, neck and upper breast, white underparts, and blackish-slate mantle and scapulars. Indistinguishable from Chinese and Javan Pond Heron in non-breeding and juvenile plumage, in which all three species have the head and neck streaked buff and dark brown with greyish-brown mantle and scapulars.

Habitat

Freshwater wetlands such as streams, marshes, ponds and open fields.

Behaviour

Diet includes fish, frogs, aquatic invertebrates and insects.