- Ardeola ralloides
Identification
40-49cm. Short neck, short thick bill and buff-brown back. In summer, adults have long neck feathers. In flight, it appears very white due to the colour of the wings.
Distribution
Breeding range very patchy across southern Europe from Iberia to the Balkans and Ukraine. Also in parts of Turkey, the Middle East, Morocco and Egypt and east to Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. In decline in many areas through the drainage of wetlands but the first breeding for Sardinia was recorded in 1985 and the Balearics in 1997. Has a wide but scattered distribution in sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Sudan and Somalia and south to the Cape.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Habitat
Freshwater swamps, ponds and ditches, often with very small areas of water, also larger waterbodies with dense vegetation, especially reedbeds with scattered willows.
Behaviour
They nest in small colonies, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. 3-4 eggs are laid.
The diet includes insects, fish and amphibians.
Bird Song
<flashmp3>Ardeola ralloides (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
