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Photo.Keely | all galleries >> Travel >> Ecuador > Striated Heron (Butorides striata)
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21-NOV-2012 Dick Keely

Striated Heron (Butorides striata)

Genovese Island, Galagapos Islands

The Striated Heron (Butorides striata) also known as Mangrove Heron, Little Heron or Green-backed Heron, is a small heron. 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. This bird was long considered to be conspecific with the closely related North American species, the Green Heron, which is now usually separated as B. virescens, as well as the Lava Heron of the Galápagos Islands (now B. sundevalli, but often included in B. striata, e.g. by BirdLife International[3]); collectively they were called "green-backed herons". Adults have a blue-grey back and wings, white underparts, a black cap and short yellow legs. Juveniles are browner above and streaked below. These birds stand still at the water's edge and wait to ambush prey, but are easier to see than many small heron species. They mainly eat small fish, frogs and aquatic insects. They sometimes use bait, dropping a feather or leaf carefully on the water surface and picking fish that come to investigate. Reference: Wikipedia.


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Guest 18-Jan-2013 15:18
What a great shot and narrative. Yes, he does remind me of the green herons in Florida. V+
woody3414-Jan-2013 22:21
Great waterbird shot...background treatment shows he is at home here with water...V
Paul Keates14-Jan-2013 22:02
Great image....V
Guest 14-Jan-2013 21:03
Fantastic. Best. J
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