Herons, Bitterns & Egrets
Herons, Bitterns and Egrets are long-legged wading birds belonging to the family Ardeidae.
Other Name:
Shona Name:
Ndebele Name:
Type:
Aves
Order:
Ciconiiformes
Diet:
Size:
Weight:
Protection Status:
Least Concern
General Background:
Herons are a large, worldwide family of long-legged wading birds. Herons have long necks and long straight, spear-like bills used for striking at fish, small vertebrates, and invertebrate prey.
Egrets are the graceful, white birds of wet ricefields, muddy river banks, and shallow swamps. Most of the true Egrets are pure white, and they are not always easy to identify.
The bitterns are secretive birds of fresh-water reed-beds and swamp scrub, and are most often seen when they make short flights above the reed-beds, usually at dawn or dusk.
There are 61 species worldwide and 18 species which occur in Zimbabwe.
Species found in Zimbabwe:
- Gray heron
- Black-headed heron
- Goliath heron
- Purple heron
- Great egret
- Slaty egret
- Black heron
- Intermediate egret
- Little egret
- Squacco heron
- Madagascar pond-heron
- Rufous-bellied heron
- Cattle egret
- Striated heron
- Black-crowned night-heron
- White-backed night-heron
- Dwarf bitten
- Great bitten
