- Heliopais personatus
Identification
Long neck, sharp beak and lobed green feet. Black mask and eyebrow, white eyering and lateral cervical stripe. Grey neck, the breast is pale and the back, wings and tail are rich brown. The males have an all black chin while the females have a white chin.
Distribution
Breeds in Bangladesh and northeastern India to Indochina; winters to Sumatra (Indonesia).
Taxonomy
A monotypic species.
Habitat
Fresh to brackish wetlands, forest, wooded savannah, flooded forest, and mangrove swamps.
Behaviour
Diet includes aquatic invertebrates, adults and larval mayflies, dragonflies, crustaceans, also snails, fish and amphibians.
A pad-shaped nest of small sticks is built above water. 5-7 eggs are laid. The chicks leave the nest shortly after hatching.
