Javan Pond Heron

Separation of Javan Pond Heron Ardeola speciosa from Chinese Pond Heron A. bacchus in non-breeding plumage is extremely difficult, some would say impossible. A possible way is to see whether the outermost primaries show dusky tips. Most of the Pond Herons which we saw on this day showed dusky tips in flight but two birds at Pakthale showed all white wings including this one which I photographed on landing. It may be a Javan Pond Heron therefore and I have recorded it as such.

Javan Pond Heron is a wading bird of the heron family, found in shallow fresh and salt-water wetlands in South-east Asia. Its diet comprises insects, fish, and crabs. It is typically 45 cm long with white wings, a yellow bill with a black tip, yellow eyes and legs. Its overall colour is orange, slaty and white during mating season, and brown and flecked with white out of the mating season. The non-breeding plumage is similar to that of the Chinese and Indian Pond Herons and is virtually indistinguishable in the field. It breeds from June to September. It is migratory. Widespread throughout its large range, Javan Pond Heron is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Reference: Wikipedia