The bare-throated tiger heron (''Tigrisoma mexicanum'') is a wading

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

of the

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

family,

Ardeidae The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

, found from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to northwestern

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, with one recorded sighting from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Hidalgo County, Texas Hidalgo County (; ) is located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat is Edinburg and the largest city is McAllen. The county is named for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the priest who raised the call for Mexico's independence from Spain. It ...

.Birding.typepad.com
It is in length and weighs . This large species is found in more open habitats than other ''

Tigrisoma ''Tigrisoma'' is a genus of herons in the family Ardeidae. The genus was erected by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827, with the rufescent tiger heron (''Tigrisoma lineatum'') as the type species. The genus name combines the Ancie ...

'' herons, such as river and lake banks. It waits often motionless for suitable prey such as fish, frogs or crabs to come within reach of its long bill. This is a solitary breeder, not normally found in heron colonies. The nest is a small flattish stick platform in a tree into which 2–3 green-tinged white eggs are laid.

Description

The throat is bare and is

greenish-yellow Varieties of the color green may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation or intensity) or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint b ...

to orange in all

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

s. The

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

has

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

and light grey sides of the head, the sides of the neck and the upperparts otherwise blackish narrowly barred

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

. The

median stripe In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic f ...

down the fore-neck is white-bordered with black; the remaining underparts are dull cinnamon brown. The juvenile is buff coarsely barred with black, more mottled and vermiculated on wings; the throat, median underparts, and belly are whitish. The flight is heavy, and the call is a hoarse ''howk-howk-howk''. Males also give a booming ''hrrrowwr!'' call, especially at sunset. During emission of the call, the beak opens wide and undulations can be seen along the course of the throat from mid-thorax caudally. File:Bare-throated Tiger Heron1.jpg, Juvenile

References

* Robert S. Ridgely and John A. Gwynne - ''Birds of Panama with Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras'' * Stiles and Skutch, ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica''

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q248025

bare-throated tiger heron The bare-throated tiger heron (''Tigrisoma mexicanum'') is a wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, found from Mexico to northwestern Colombia, with one recorded sighting from the United States in Hidalgo County, Texas.Birds of Central America