Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides (Scopoli, 1769))

Scientific name: Ardeola ralloides (Scopoli, 1769)
Common name: Squacco Heron
French name: Crabier chevelu, Héron crabier.
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Size: Body size: 42 to 47 cm; Weight: 250 to 300 g; Wingspan: 80 to 92 cm.
Habitat: Shallow wetlands with dense vegetation, swamps, deltas, rivers, lakes, ponds, rice fields, flooded areas.
Food: Insects, larvae, crustaceans, molluscs, amphibians and small fish often caught while standing still.
Nesting: The Squacco Heron nests in colonies with other heron species, fairly low in trees or in reed beds. The nest is a small platform of twigs. There are 4 to 7 eggs per clutch in Europe and 2 to 3 eggs per clutch in Africa.
Migration: In winter, European populations move to the Nile Delta and tropical Africa. Populations in southern Africa are sedentary.
Geographic area: Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Caspian Sea basins. Sub-Saharan Africa to South Africa, Madagascar.

The Squacco Heron is a small, solitary heron that is light brown or buff in colour.
The greyish beak turns to turquoise blue with a black tip during the breeding season.
In breeding plumage the head has long brown, black and white tufts which form hair.
The wings and tail are white, making this colour the dominant colour when you see a Squacco Heron in flight.

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides) - Danube Delta, Romania - August 2nd 2019

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