Black-headed Heron: how to recognise it
A bird of Africa. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Nik Borrow · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Ardea melanocephala
- Family
- Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
- Size
- About 85 cm
- Habitat
- Open grassland, farmland and wetland edges
- Found in
- Africa
The key marks
A tall heron with a black crown and back of the neck, a white throat and a grey back. In flight the white underwing coverts stand out against dark flight feathers. Grey Heron has a white head with a black crest stripe and a grey neck.
Voice
A loud, harsh croak.
Good to know
Unlike most herons it often hunts away from water, in fields and grassland, for rodents, insects and other small animals.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Grey Heron. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in open grassland, farmland and wetland edges. It is especially common in Tanzania and Kenya. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.