Genus Ardeola

Chinese Pond-Heron - The Chinese Pond Heron is typically 47 cm long with white wings, a yellow bill with a black tip, yellow eyes and legs. Its overall colour is red, blue and white during breeding season, and greyish-brown and flecked with white at other times.

Indian Pond Heron - The Indian Pond Heron or Paddybird is a small heron. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Iran and east to India, Burma, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. They are widespread and common but can be easily missed when the stalk prey at the edge of small water-bodies or even when the roost close to human habitations. They are however distinctive when put to flight, the bright white wings flashing in contrast to the cryptic streaked olive and brown colours of the body. The camouflage is so excellent that they will often allow humans to approach very close before taking to flight, and this has resulted in folk names and beliefs that the birds are short-sighted or blind.

 

Malagasy Pond Heron - The Malagasy Pond Heron , also known as the Madagascar Pond Heron, is a species of heron in the Ardeidae family. It is found in Angola, Bahamas, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mayotte, Mozambique, Rwanda, RĂ©union, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, rivers, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, estuarine waters, and arable land.

Squacco Heron - This is a stocky species with a short neck, short thick bill and buff-brown back. In summer, adults have long neck feathers. Its appearance is transformed in flight, when it looks very white due to the colour of the wings.

 

Javan Pond-Heron - The Javan Pond Heron is typically 45 cm long with white wings, a yellow bill with a black tip, yellow eyes and legs. Its overall colour is orange, slaty and white during mating season, and brown and flecked with white out of the mating season. The non-breeding plumage is similar to that of the Chinese and Indian Pond Herons and is virtually indistinguishable in the field. It breeds from June to September. It is migratory.

Order : Ciconiiformes
Family : Ardeidae
Genus : Ardeola