Striated Heron
Butorides striata
This heron is a tool-user; it intentionally drops feathers, insects, or berries onto the water's surface to bait fish within striking range.
- Scientific name
- Butorides striata
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Pelecaniformes › Ardeidae › Butorides
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Mangrove forests, estuaries, wooded riverbanks, and freshwater marshes.
- Diet
- Small fish, crustaceans, frogs, and aquatic insects.
- Range
- South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, Pacific Islands
- Size
- 35-48 cm long with a wingspan of approximately 55 cm.
- Lifespan
- 10-15 years
- Active
- crepuscular
- Threats
- Wetland drainage, mangrove deforestation, and pesticide runoff affecting water quality.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and shy. Maintain a distance of at least 10 meters to avoid disturbing its hunting. If the bird feels cornered, it may use its sharp bill defensively; if pecked, wash the wound and seek medical attention if signs of infection occur.
The striated heron ( Butorides striata ) also known as mangrove heron , little heron or green-backed heron , is a small heron, about 44 cm tall. Striated herons are mostly non-migratory and noted for some interesting behavioral traits. Their breeding habitat is small wetlands in the Old World tropics from west Africa to Japan and Australia, and in South America. Vagrants have been recorded on oceanic islands, such as Chuuk and Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marianas...
Photo: Bill Levine, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
Plain-text version: /species/0fd8e8ab-30ac-43d5-addd-4c4b1b9784b3.md