Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath)

Family
Ardeidae (Herons)

Size
120 - 150 cm

First Described (Guide)
Cretzschmar, 1827

Habitat
Coastal and inland freshwater and saline waters, with a preference for shallow water along the shores of lakes, rivers, lagoons. Alsomarshes, tidal estuaries, reefs, mangrove creeks and waterholes in woodland savanna.

Range (Guide)

Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], C�te dIvoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, India, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B) (NB), Iraq (B) (NB), Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia (B) (NB), Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Uganda, Yemen (NB), Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Jordan, Liberia, Oman, Syrian Arab Republic.

Africa south of Sahara, southern Iraq and southern Iran, with some non breeders along Red Sea; breeding also inferred at scattered sites on Indian Subcontinent from Pakistan to Bangladesh and southern into Sri Lanka.

Population
Estimated population is 10,000 - 100,000 (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Predominantly large fish. Also frogs, lizards, snakes, rodents, crabs, prawns, floating carrion.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files

Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath) [XC722271]
by id from Chiredzi, Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe (flight call)

Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath) [XC248014]
by Derek Solomon from Peddie (near Hamburg), Amatole, Eastern Cape, South Africa (flight call)

Nest
A platform composed of sticks or reeds located less than 3 m high in a tree over water, on partly submerged trees, low bushes, mangroves, cliffs, sedges, papyrus, reeds or on bare ground.

Subspecies
No subspecies.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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