The Chinese pond heron (''Ardeola bacchus'') is an East Asian freshwater bird 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). It is one of six species of birds known as "pond herons" (genus '' Ardeola''). It is parapatric (or nearly so) with the Indian pond heron (''A. grayii'') to the west and the

Javan pond heron The Javan pond heron (''Ardeola speciosa'') is a wading bird of the heron family, found in shallow fresh and salt-water wetlands in Southeast Asia. Its diet comprises insects, fish, and crabs. The Javan pond heron is typically 45 cm long ...

(''A. speciosa'') to the south, and these three are presumed to form a superspecies. As a group they are variously affiliated with the squacco heron (''A. ralloides'') or the Malagasy pond heron (''A. idae''). As of mid-2011 there are no published molecular analyses of pond heron interrelationships and osteological data is likewise not analyzed for all relevant comparison taxa.

Description and ecology

The Chinese pond heron is typically 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. Ardeola bacchus - Bueng Boraphet

It is found in shallow fresh and salt water wetlands and ponds in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and adjacent temperate and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

East Asia. Essentially a lowland bird, its range is delimited by the

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, ...

regions in the north, and by the mountain ranges in the west and south. The species is prone to some vagrancy. One individual in breeding plumage was seen by the river at Bonzon near

Gangaw Gangaw ( my, ဂန့်ဂေါမြို့, ) is a town of Gangaw Township in Gangaw District in the Magway Division in Myanmar. Gangaw is also known as the City of Yaw, a certain region in Myanmar including Gangaw (), Tilin (), Saw () an ...

– just inside the Chin State of Burma – west of the species' usual range, on April 8, 1995. A stray bird stopping over on

Saint Paul Island, Alaska Saint Paul Island (russian: Остров Святого Павла, Ostrov Svyatogo Pavla) is the largest of the Pribilof Islands, a group of four Alaskan volcanic islands located in the Bering Sea between the United States and Russia. The city o ...

on August 4–9, 1997 was the first recorded occurrence of this species in North America. Its food consists of insects, fish, and crustaceans. The Chinese pond heron often nests in mixed- species heronries. It lays a clutch of 3–6 blue-green eggs. It is fairly common and not considered a threatened species by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

.BirdLife International (2012)
''Ardeola bacchus''
In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2.

References

External links

* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q498102 Chinese pond heron Chinese pond heron Birds of China Birds of East Asia Chinese pond heron Chinese pond heron