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Pied Heron (Egretta [Ardea] picata) Alternate name(s): "Pied Egret", "White-headed Egret" Size: 43-52 cm Body mass: 245-280 g (male), 225-240 g (female)

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Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Pied Herons are small herons with dark-grey and white plumage. Body, tail and wings are dark-grey. The cap is also dark-grey, with nuchal plumes. The neck is white, with white hackles. During the breeding season nuchal plumes and frontal hackles are most pronounced. In eclipse both nuchal plumes and frontal hackles are reduced; the plumes may be absent altogether. Body, tail and wings are dark-grey. Bill, legs and feet are yellow. Juvenile Pied Herons do not have a dark-grey cap yet and the body plumage is a somewhat lighter shade of grey than that of adults.

Taxonomy, classification See Pied Heron at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Pied Heron is available HERE . Pied Herons populate primarily the northern, tropical coastal fringe of Australia and northward, along the Torres Strait, up to the South and South-east coast of New Guinea. There are also rare reports from islands in eastern Indonesia. Along the Australian North coast, Pied Herons are found in a patch around Broome, WA, and the estuary of Humbert Creek in the west. From about the Cambridge Gulf and Wyndham, WA, through the entire Top End of the NT (including Kakadu NP and Arnhemland), along the South coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and along the entire coastline of Cape York peninsula, their distribution is contiguous all the way to about Yeppoon, QLD, in the East. Their breeding areas are quite restricted within that range (most of the coastline of the NT and the south-eastern corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria). There is one notable addition to this range, namely an area from the Gulf of Carpentaria southwards, into inland QLD and NSW, where Pied Herons can also be found occasionally. The Macquarie Marshes of the Castlereagh River in inland NSW are one of the Pied Heron's established breeding areas. Pied Herons have a preference for near-coastal swamps and intertidal flats, but they will also stay along billabongs, sewage works and some riverine marshes. Where to look? How to find this species? Pied Herons are usually found in wetlands with stagnant, often eutrophic (nutrient-rich) water. The best places to check out are billabongs, sewage works and stagnant pools in some riverine marshes.

Sightings Click here for sighting information M. Mearns reports spotting Pied Herons south of Darwin, NT, in September 2008. B. Hensen reports spotting large numbers of Pied Herons that have taken up permanent residence at Leanyer Sewage Works, Darwin, NT, where they were seen e.g. in July 2013. More Pied Herons were found at Holmes Jungle NP, Darwin, NT, in July 2014, and again in July 2018. Pied Herons were reported to have been breeding at Macquarie Marshes, NSW, in the 2010/11 breeding season. This is a location, and an extension of their natural range to the South, not represented in many field guides. We first spotted a flock of about 50 Pied Herons at Fogg Dam NR, NT, in August 2014. J. Greaves reports spotting Pied Herons at Yellow Water billabong, Kakadu NP, NT, in November 2014. Several contributors report finding Pied Herons regularly in various locations in and around Darwin, NT, and along the coastal fringe of the NT.

Photos

Grey morphology

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Frontal view of a Pied Heron in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kakadu NP, NT, June 2023]

Near-frontal and lateral views of Pied Herons in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Leanyer Sewage Treatment Plant, Darwin, NT, July 2013]

Near-frontal to lateral views of Pied Herons in breeding plumage "lined up" on a rail; here one can see their nuchal plumes (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Leanyer Sewage Treatment Plant, Darwin, NT, July 2013]

Lateral view of a Pied Heron in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Leanyer Sewage Treatment Plant, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Close-up lateral view of a Pied Heron in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Leanyer Sewage Treatment Plant, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Close-up lateral view of a Pied Heron in breeding plumage, left, with a juvenile (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Leanyer Sewage Treatment Plant, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a Pied Heron in breeding plumage in flight, with a view of its underwing pattern (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Holmes Jungle NP, Darwin, NT, July 2014]

Lateral view of a Pied Heron in breeding plumage in flight, with a view of its upperwing pattern (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Holmes Jungle Nature Park, Darwin, NT, July 2014]

NON-BREEDING

Frontal view of a Pied Heron in non-breeding plumage on the grassy fringe of a wetland
[Fogg Dam NR, Top End, NT, August 2014]

Near-frontal view of a Pied Heron in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Near-frontal view of a Pied Heron in non-breeding plumage foraging in wet grassland
[Fogg Dam NR, Top End, NT, August 2014]

Near-lateral view of a Pied Heron in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Lateral view of a Pied Heron in non-breeding plumage
[Fogg Dam NR, Top End, NT, August 2014]

Near-dorsal view of a Pied Heron in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

This near-dorsal view of a Pied Heron clearly shows the black cap and nuchal plumes typical of adult birds; note the sparsity of plumes, especially on the back
[Fogg Dam NR, Top End, NT, August 2014]

Comparison between different species of egret/heron: Pied Heron at the back, Little Egret, front left, and Great Egret, front right (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Close-up lateral view of an immature Pied Heron (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Leanyer Sewerage Ponds, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of an immature Pied Heron with its catch
[Fogg Dam NR, Top End, NT, August 2014]

Adult Pied Herons in breeding plumage, with dark caps, together with immature/juveniles, with white to light-grey heads
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Holmes Jungle NP, Darwin, NT, July 2014]

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Pied Heron; note the white head (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Pied Heron; note the white head (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Adult Pied Herons in breeding plumage, with dark caps, together with a juvenile; note the white head
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Pied Heron in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Holmes Jungle NP, NT, July 2018]

Adult Pied Herons in breeding plumage, with dark caps, in flight together with juveniles, with white to light-grey heads
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Holmes Jungle NP, Darwin, NT, July 2014]

Rufous morphology

ADULT

NON-BREEDING

Near-lateral view of a rufous Pied Heron (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Holmes Jungle NP, NT, July 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

This peculiar-looking immature Pied Heron may be developing a rufous-morphology plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

This peculiar-looking immature Pied Heron may be developing a rufous-morphology plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

This peculiar-looking immature Pied Heron may be developing a rufous-morphology plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Hybrid

Lateral view of a suspected hybrid between a Pied Heron and a White-faced Heron; a comparison with a Magpie Goose shows that it is a small heron (photo courtesy of R. Russell)
[Near Mareeba, QLD, December 2011]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Mob/flock

Food, Diet

Pied Heron with its catch, a snake (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[South of Darwin, NT, September 2008]

Pied Heron stalking its prey
[Fogg Dam NR, Top End, NT, August 2014]

Immature Pied Heron with its catch
[Fogg Dam NR, Top End, NT, August 2014]

Peculiar-looking immature Pied Heron with its prey, a frog (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

piehern_20140817.m4a

(Top End, NT)

Contact call

© MD

More Pied Heron sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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