Chinese Pond-Heron Ardeola bacchus Scientific name definitions

c. 42–52 cm (1 Brazil, M. (2009). Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia: Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Eastern Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); 280–332 g (2 Dunning, J. B., Jr. (2008). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses. Second edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA. Close ); wingspan 79–90 cm (1 Brazil, M. (2009). Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia: Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Eastern Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Much darker than breeding-plumaged Bubulcus ibis, but main confusion risk is with closely related A. speciosa, from which it is distinguished in breeding plumage by darker head and upper breast, and has rufous crest plumes (not whitish buff). Upper back has long blackish plumes  that extend beyond tail, while the wings, rest of upperparts, throat and belly  are white, while breast has long maroon plumes and there are long dark grey plumes on the pectoral region. Female reported to differ from male in paler foreneck, shorter plumes, lack of slaty patch on breast and browner scapulars and tertials. During courtship legs become intense pinkish red, at other times yellowish; bill  yellow with bluish base and black tip in breeding season (maxilla dusky in non-breeding season), eyes golden-yellow and facial skin greenish yellow (including pale eyering). Non-breeding adult similar to congeners, but has darker back and tips to primaries than smaller-bodied, smaller-billed and shorter-winged A. speciosa; compared to A. ralloides has darker (not tawny-brown) back and lack of any suggestion of black streaking on head and crest. Juvenile brown, heavily streaked buff and dark brown, underparts whitish with heavy brown streaking, while presumed first-winter plumage has streaked lesser wing-coverts (versus plain white in adults) and more extensively brown outer primaries and tail tip (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). First-summer plumage reported to be very similar to that of adult, albeit perhaps duller overall with some streaking on head and neck (4 Howell, S. N. G., I. Lewington, and W. Russell (2014). Rare Birds of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ).

Breeds from Russian Far East, NE & E China and Japan SW to NE India (Assam) and N Myanmar. Winters in Andaman Is, Malay Peninsula, Indochina, Borneo and Sumatra, and NE to Ryukyu Is.

Frequents paddyfields, swamps, ponds, riverbanks; also in mangroves and at tidal pools, mainly in lowlands. In N Thailand recorded on streams up to 1450 m (5 Robson, C. (2000). A Field Guide to the Birds of South-east Asia. New Holland, London, UK. Close ); in dry grassland in Hong Kong and Thailand. In SW China, recorded to at least 4000 m (on migration), with vagrant records elsewhere in the Himalayas as high as 3570 m (6 King, B. F., and Peng Ji Tai (1991). Some bird observations in Ganzi prefecture of extreme north-west Sichuan, China. Forktail 6:15–23. Close , 7 Khan, B., Hussain, E., Mundkur, T., Abbas, S. and Khan, G. (2015). Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus: an addition to the avifauna of Pakistan. BirdingASIA. 24: 136–137. Close ).

Indian and N Indochinese birds considered sedentary, with some local movements, but former might in fact be migrants (as breeding apparently never proven) (8 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). N populations migratory: Chinese birds leave breeding grounds in Aug/Oct (e.g. passage through Hebei, NE China, observed late Aug to mid or late Oct) (9 Williams, M. D., G. J. Carey, D. G. Duff, and X. Weishu (1992). Autumn bird migration at Beidaihe, China, 1986–1990. Forktail 7:3–55. Close ), returning in Mar/Apr, when occasionally overshoots to South Korea, Japan (e.g. N Hokkaido) (10 Kosugi, K. (1993). [Records of egrets and herons from Rishiri Island, northern Hokkaido]. Jap. J. Orn.. 41(2): 49–51. (In Japanese with English summary.). Close ) and elsewhere in N China (Heilongjiang and Xinjiang) (1 Brazil, M. (2009). Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia: Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Eastern Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); occurs in Malay Peninsula Sept–May (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ), S Nansei Shoto (Japan) Oct–Apr (1 Brazil, M. (2009). Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia: Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Eastern Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), and in Borneo Sept–Feb (extreme dates early Sept and late May) (11 Mann, C. F. (2008). The Birds of Borneo: An Annotated Checklist. B.O.U. Checklist 23. British Ornithologists’ Union, and British Ornithologists’ Club, Peterborough. Close ). Occasional in Taiwan and on Andamans (8 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ), with 13 records in Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro, Negros and Palawan; Oct–Apr) (12 Kennedy, R. S., P. C. Gonzales, E. C. Dickinson, H. C. Miranda, and T. H. Fisher (2000). A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close , 13 Allen, D., C. P. Española, G. Broad, C. Oliveros, and J. C. T. Gonzalez (2006). New bird records for the Babuyan Islands, Philippines, including two first records for the Philippines. Forktail 22:57–70. Close , 14 Robson, C. (2013). From the field. BirdingASIA. 20: 121–127. Close , 15 Robson, C. (2015). From the field. BirdingASIA 24:144–148. Close ); vagrant to L Baikal, Siberia (Jun 1998) (16 Mlíkovský, J. (2009). Waterbirds of Lake Baikal, eastern Siberia, Russia. Forktail 25:13–70. Close ), Alaska (Pribilofs, Aug 1996; Attu I, May 2010; St Lawrence I, Jul 2011) (4 Howell, S. N. G., I. Lewington, and W. Russell (2014). Rare Birds of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ), Guam (Feb–Apr 1987) (17 Stinson, D.W., Wiles, G.J. and Reichel, J.D. (1997). Migrant land birds and water birds in the Mariana Islands. Pacific Sci. 51(3): 314–327. Close ), S & NW India (Gujarat, May 1980; Tamil Nadu, Mar–Apr 2013 (18 Kaninde, S. (2013). Sighting of Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Indian Birds. 8(6): 158. Close ); Rajasthan, Jun 2013) (19 Paonia, S.S, Sharma, M. and Sangha, H.S. (2013). Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus in Rajasthan, India. Indian Birds. 8(6): 159–160. Close ), Bhutan (May 2013), Sri Lanka (8 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ), Pakistan (Jul 2011) (7 Khan, B., Hussain, E., Mundkur, T., Abbas, S. and Khan, G. (2015). Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus: an addition to the avifauna of Pakistan. BirdingASIA. 24: 136–137. Close ) and Oman (Aug 2010, Sept 2012) (20 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 ). Records in E Indian Ocean and Australia, on Cocos Is (May 2006, 40575  ), Christmas (Mar 2008, 40695  ) and near Broome (Western Australia) in 39508  , plausibly all pertain to natural vagrants. However, single adults in Norway, autumn 1973, and Hungary, Aug 2000 (21 Ecsedi, Z., Oláh, J. and Tar, J. (2000). The Chinese Pond Heron in Hungary. Birding World. 13(11): 466–467. Close ), until recently usually considered to be genuine vagrants, are now regarded as being probable escapes, as were single adults in Finland in 39264  and 41122  , but singles in S & SE England in Oct–Nov 2004 (22 Gantlett, S. (2004). The Chinese Pond Heron in Norfolk and Hampshire – a new British bird? Birding World. 17(11): 472–473. Close ) and Jan–Mar 2014 have recently been accepted as natural vagrants (23 Bowman, N., Roberts, I. and Dawson, M. (2017). Chinese Pond Heron: new to Britain. British Birds. 110(6): 335–344. Close ).

Small frogs  , worms, aquatic invertebrates, fish, molluscs, worms (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), some terrestrial insects and even small birds (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Little known about technique, but probably most commonly Standing and Walking Slowly , as well as Feet First Diving, Hovering (25 Tyler, S.J. (2005). Foraging techniques of the Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus. Forktail. 21: 165–166. Close ) and Dipping (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); in Hong Kong recorded diving into ponds from overhanging perches up to 10 m high, they also feed on the wing and have been observed feeding commensally with otters (Lutra) (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Also in Hong Kong noted feeding more around dawn and dusk than in rest of day, although other records indicate regular feeding during day. Solitary or in pairs, sometimes in small flocks of up to six birds, more occasionally up to 60 (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

Vocalizations poorly documented, although usually considered to be rather silent in non-breeding season, other than a gruff “kwa” on being flushed, similar to other Ardeola (1 Brazil, M. (2009). Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia: Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Eastern Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

In India, May–Aug; in China, nest records from Apr–Jul (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); in Hunan (SC China), lays in early May. Colonial, normally forming small colonies, sometimes with other herons, especially Egretta garzetta and night-herons (Nycticorax) (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); in extreme W of range can breed alongside A. grayii. Usually nests high in trees (e.g. Populus, Sophora, Quercus, Ulmus, Ficus, Cunninghamia and Sassafras) (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), c. 17 m up on average at Ichang (E China) and in another study > 50% of nests were sited above 10 m (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); also nests in bamboos (e.g. Pleioblastus simonii) and mangroves (26 Tan, F., Wu, Q.-C., Lin, Y.-H., Fang, B.-Z., Zhou, D.-L. and Zhang, M.-H. (2013). Nest-site selection of Ardeidae birds in mangrove habitats of Zhangjiang Estuary in Fujian Province, China. Chinese J. Zool.. 48(2): 212–219. Close ); small stick nest sometimes lined with leaves and grass. Double-brooded, with second clutch typically laid after young from first clutch have become independent (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Normally 4–6 greenish-blue eggs (2–8), mean size 37·7–39 mm × 28·4–29·7 mm (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); incubation 18–22 days by both adults (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); fledging c. 30 days and become independent six days later (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Mynas (Acridotheres) may steal food from chicks (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). No additional information.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Global population estimated at 25,000–1,000,000 individuals. One of commonest herons in E China, with breeding densities of up to 1401 birds/km² and more than 6000 nests have been discovered at just two sites (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); colony of 100–150 pairs in Hong Kong, where loss of fishpond habitat has led to recent decline (24 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). In winter, common in Malay Peninsula, with 577 counted in Jan 1990; very common in Vietnam and also in Thailand, where 1320 recorded in Jan 1990; apparently declining visitor to Borneo in recent years. Records increasing in Japan, where has bred on several occasions since 1981 (27 Mashiko, M., M. Fujioka, K. Moriya, T. Hagimoto, M. Yamaguchi, and Y. Toquenaga (2012). Natural hybridization between a Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) and a Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus) in Japan. Waterbirds 35(1):160–163. Close ). Rare in NE Indian Subcontinent, with no definitive evidence of breeding (8 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close , 28 Choudhury, A. (2010). Recent sightings of Chinese Pond-Heron Ardeola bacchus in Assam. Indian Birds. 5(6): 185. Close ). Large quantities of eggs and birds taken in parts of China for food; nonetheless, seems to have been expanding range during 1980s.