The great-billed heron (''Ardea sumatrana'') is a wading bird of the heron family, resident from

southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

left, Juvenile The great-billed heron is a large bird, typically standing tall and weighing up to . It is larger than the purple heron, which it resembles in appearance, although it is larger and darker. The

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, ...

is largely dark grey above. In flight, it has a uniform dark grey upperwing. The flight is slow, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and

bittern Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' in Old English; the word "bittern ...

s, and distinguishes them from

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

s, cranes and spoonbills, which extend their necks. The species feeds in shallow water, spearing

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

with its long, sharp bill. It will wait motionless for prey, or slowly stalk its victim.

Distribution and habitat

The great-billed heron has a very large range, occurring in much of coastal Southern Asia and Australasia including Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Its habitats are largely coastal such as islands, coral reefs, mangroves, large rivers. However, occasionally, it can be found inland in shallow ponds.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q757350

great-billed heron The great-billed heron (''Ardea sumatrana'') is a wading bird of the heron family, resident from southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Description left, Juvenile The great-billed heron is a large bird, typically standing tall and ...

Birds of New Guinea Birds of the Northern Territory Birds of Cape York Peninsula Birds of Southeast Asia