White-faced Heron: how to recognise it
A bird of Asia and Oceania. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Caiden · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Egretta novaehollandiae
- Family
- Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
- Size
- About 67 cm
- Habitat
- Wetlands, farmland, coasts and gardens
- Found in
- Asia and Oceania
The key marks
Blue-grey heron with a white face, a dark bill and yellow legs. Grey Heron is bigger and paler grey, with a white head topped by a black stripe, and a yellowish bill.
Voice
A deep, harsh croak.
Good to know
It crossed the Tasman Sea to New Zealand by itself in the 1940s and has bred there since.
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 wetlands, farmland, coasts and gardens. It is especially common in Australia and New Zealand. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.