Rufous-bellied Heron (Ardeola rufiventris)

Family
Ardeidae (Herons)

Size
46 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Sundevall, 1851)

Habitat
Seasonally flooded grasslands, marshes, flood-plains, inland deltas, shallow water along riverbanks and lake shores, stands of papyrus, reedbeds, rice-fields.

Range (Guide)

Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania [United Republic of], Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Swaziland.

Uganda and Kenya south to Natal (eastern South Africa) and west to Angola, northern Namibia and northern Botswana.

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

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Singly or in small flocks of up to five.

Food
Small fish, frogs, crustaceans, aquatic insects, worms.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (1)...)

Rufous-bellied Heron (Ardeola rufiventris) [XC737660]
by Dries Van de Loock from Kalabo, Western Province, Zambia (call)

Rufous-bellied Heron (Ardeola rufiventris) [XC739413]
by Derek Solomon from Lake Mburo National Park, Kiruhura, Western Region, Uganda (call)

Nest
A small platform of vegetation located low down, in reeds, trees or shrubs that are usually standing in water. Usually on the periphery of mixed-species colonies.

Subspecies
No subspecies.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Rufous-bellied Heron (Ardeola rufiventris) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Rufous-bellied Heron see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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