Black Heron Egretta ardesiaca Scientific name definitions

42·5–66 cm; 270–390 g (1 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Blackest member of Egretta, being all slaty black , with luxuriant, bushy crest formed of lanceolate plumes tinged bluish; broad flight feathers are special adaptation to feeding technique in which bird characteristically spreads wings over head , like umbrella . Rather dumpy appearance, but flies with quick wingbeats and is distinguished form dark-morph <em>E. garzetta</em> by smaller size, lack of any white in plumage and shorter legs  , while compared to localized E. vinaceigula (of SC Africa), lacks reddish to buff throat, pale eyes and yellow legs of latter. Feet  red during courtship, but tarsi remain wholly black (not so in other yellow-footed egrets), eyes dark brown with powder blue orbital ring, and bill also black. Juvenile duller and browner, lacks long plumes.

Africa S of Sahara except Congo Basin and arid area around Kalahari; Madagascar.

More common on fresh waters, shallow lakesides , rivers, ponds, marshes, flooded plains and rice paddies; also alkaline lakes, mangroves and tidal flats. Recorded up to 1500 m on High Plateau of Madagascar, to 1600 m in Zambia (2 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ) and even higher in Ethiopia (3 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Sedentary, especially in E & C Africa, albeit with some local movements, presumably promoted by dessication of wetlands during dry season and consequent search for suitable feeding areas, e.g. present in Sierra Leone only Dec–Jun, in S Somalia (where unknown to breed) only in Oct–Apr (4 Ash, J. S., and J. E. Miskell (1998). Birds of Somalia. Pica Press, Robertsbridge, UK. Close ), and on Zimbabwe plateau Oct–Feb, while large numbers apparently move from Kenya to Tanzania, and through Gambia, at certain seasons (1 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Species might also be only non-breeding visitor to Ethiopia, although there are records for all months, but comparatively few between Jun and Sept (3 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), and there are rather few records in South Sudan (5 Mallalieu, M. (2013). Bird observations around Juba, South Sudan. Bull. African Bird Club. 20(2): 156–176. Close ). Occasionally wanders to the Congo Basin, in Gabon, Congo-Kinshasa (former Zaire, where regularly recorded in Jan–Mar in Bas-Congo province) (6 Demey, R., P. Herroelen, and T. Pedersen (2000). Additions and annotations to the avifauna of Congo-Kinshasa (ex-Zaïre). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 120(3):154–172. Close , 7 Ayer, H.D.S. (2011). Some observations of birds and bird behaviour in Kinshasa and Bas-Congo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Malimbus. 33(1): 65–77. Close ), Congo-Brazzaville (where all records are in Feb and Aug) (8 Ikonga, J.M. and Rainey, H. (2005). Premieres observations de l’Aigrette ardoisee Egretta ardesiaca au Congo-Brazzaville. Bull. African Bird Club. 12(2): 166–167. Close , 9 Rainey, H. J., J. M. Ikonga, R. Vernon, and T. King (2009). Additions to the avifauna of Congo-Brazzaville. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 16(1):53–60. Close ) and NW Angola (10 Stavrou, C. and Mills, M.S.L. (2013). Observations of birds of the Soyo area, northwest Angola. Malimbus. 35(1): 27–36. Close ). A juvenile ringed in Zambia (in Aug) was recovered in Zimbabwe in Jan (2 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ). Accidental in Gabon (Jan, Apr), Namibia (1 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), on Cape Verde Is (Feb–Mar 1985 (11 Hazevoet, C. J. (1995). The Birds of the Cape Verde Islands. An Annotated Checklist. BOU Check-list 13. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring, UK. Close ), Mar 2007, and Mar 2011 to at least Mar 2014) (12 Hazevoet, C. J. (2010). Sixth report on birds from the Cape Verde Islands, including records of 25 taxa new to the archipelago. Zoologia Caboverdiana 1(1):3–44. Close , 13 van den Berg, A. B., and M. Haas, (2014). WP reports. Dutch Birding 36(3):195–208. Close ), at Aswan, Egypt, and in Arabia (Yemen, Mar–Apr 1996, Jan 1997 (14 Al-Saghier, O. and Porter, R.F. (1997). The first Black Heron Egretta ardesiaca in Yemen. Sandgrouse. 19(2): 140–141. Close ), and Oman, Sept–Oct 1994) (15 Eriksen, J., and R. Victor (2013). Oman Bird List: the Official List of the Birds of the Sultanate of Oman. Seventh edition. Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. Close ) and most exceptionally N to S Israel (Oct 1982) (16 Shirihai, H. (1999). Fifty species new to Israel, 1979–1998: their discovery and documentation, with tips on identification. Sandgrouse 21(1):45–105. Close ) Greece (Jun 2012) (17 van den Berg, A. B., and M. Haas (2012). WP reports. Dutch Birding 34(3):178–194. Close ) and Italy (May–Jun 2017).

Mainly small fish (15–30 mm in size) (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but also crustaceans and aquatic insects. Catches prey by means of characteristic Canopy Feeding (see Family Text ); normally moves slowly about, intermittently spreading canopy; umbrella-like canopy is spread quickly, with mechanical-like action and maintained for 2–3 seconds, sometimes accompanied by Foot Stirring (juveniles sometimes use only one wing but this characteristic behaviour is quickly employed on cessation of feeding by adults) (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Feeds diurnally (throughout day) or around dusk, normally moving off to communal roost with other species. Some birds feed alone and defend territories; others form feeding flocks of 5–50 individuals or more, e.g. flock of 250 recorded at L Benamba and 600 at L Sahaka (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), both on Madagascar, and has been also observed feeding cooperatively with E. garzetta and African Spoonbills (Platalea alba) in South Africa (19 Kyle, R. (2005). Co-operative feeding by Black Egrets, Little Egrets and African Spoonbills in Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa. Ostrich 76(1–2):91–92. Close ).

Considered to be generally silent, other than low clucking sounds (context unknown) (1 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ) and harsh vocalizations in defence of nest (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Generally peaks around onset of rains and period of flooding; laying Aug–Feb in Mali, Feb–Mar or May–Jun in Kenya, perhaps Jan–Jun in Malawi (20 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2006). The Birds of Malawi: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ), Feb–Apr or Jun in Botswana, Feb–Jun in Zambia (2 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ), Nov–Jan (1 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ) in South Africa, and year-round (mainly Jul–Nov) (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) in Madagascar. Colonial: in Africa, normally with 5–100 nests (1 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ) scattered about colony mixed with other herons (e.g. Ardea alba, E. garzetta, Ardeola ralloides) (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), ibises, cormorants or darters, sometimes in larger colonies, e.g. 1500 nests of present species in huge mixed colony at Chagana, Tanzania, and up to 250 nests at Bangweulu, Zambia (2 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ); in Madagascar, more often in monospecific colonies, which were formerly huge, e.g. over 10,000 birds at Antananarivo in 1949/50, but also mixed with species such as E. gularis dimorpha, Nycticorax nyxticorax, Bubulcus ibis, Ardea cinerea, A. humbloti, Madagascar Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis bernieri), Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) and African Spoonbill (Platalea alba) (21 Koenig, P. (2012). Une importante colonie d’Ardéidés et de Threskiornithidés dans l’estuaire de la Loza au nord-ouest de Madagascar. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 19(1):39–41. Close ). Nest of sticks usually up to 6 m up tree (Cyperus in Madagascar) (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but sometimes in bushes or reedbeds; always near or over water (sometimes just 20 cm above it) (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Clutch 2–4 pale green or bluish-green (but sometimes almost white) eggs, size 41·9–51·9 mm × 29·9–34·5 mm (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); chicks have dark grey down, with downy white crest, greenish-yellow legs and yellow feet (1 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Generally scarce, though locally abundant, e.g. by L Victoria; patchy distribution, with overall population estimated at 25,000–100,000 birds, including 5000–7000 individuals in Tanzania (1 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Unknown at many apparently suitable sites in E Africa, but seasonal concentrations of 100s at L Jipe and L Bilisa, and status has changed dramatically in Uganda, where rare prior to 1970s, but has become reasonably widespread and locally frequent in S of country since mid 1980s (22 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists' Union, Oxford, UK. Close ); rare S of Zambezi; in W Africa commoner along coast than inland, with 10,000–20,000 birds in Guinea Bissau, Oct–Dec 1983. Seems to be particularly susceptible to disturbance during breeding, and many of the colonies studied have low breeding success. Found throughout Madagascar, though rarer in S; marked decline in last 30 years, especially in high central plateau; large colonies of past have disappeared due to human interference, and nowadays colonies rarely hold more than 40–50 pairs.