White-faced heron
| White-faced heron | |
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| The white-faced heron in breeding plumage, in a characteristic resting pose. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Ardeidae |
| Genus: | Egretta |
| Species: | E. novaehollandiae |
| Binomial name | |
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Egretta novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Ardea novaehollandiae |
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Ardea novaehollandiae
Notophoyx novaehollandiae
The white-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) also known as the white-fronted heron, and incorrectly as the grey heron, or blue crane, is a common bird throughout most of Australasia, including New Guinea, the islands of Torres Strait, Indonesia, New Zealand, and all but the driest areas of Australia.
It is a medium-sized heron, pale, slightly bluish-grey, with yellow legs and white facial markings. It can be found almost anywhere near shallow water, fresh or salt, and although it is prompt to depart the scene on long, slow-beating wings if disturbed, it will boldly raid suburban fish ponds.
The species was originally described by ornithologist John Latham in 1790. It was historically considered to be closely related to Ardea but for some time it was placed in its own genus—Notophoyx—because of the absence of the plumes typical in that genus. In his review of the family Ardeidae, American ornithologist Walter J. Bock placed the white-faced heron into Ardea, holding it to be related to the white-necked heron, and synonymised Notophoyx. Similarly, Swedish naturalist Kai Curry-Lindahl felt the species was a dwarf member of the genus Ardea.Robert B. Payne and Christopher J. Risley placed the white-faced heron in the genus Egretta due to its skeletal anatomy resembling egrets more than Ardea herons. They noted that Bock had not given reasons why he had placed the species in Ardea, and felt its closest relative was the [little blue heron]] (Egretta caerulea) on account of plumage and skull similarities. Using DNA-DNA hybridization in a 1987 study, Frederick Sheldon confirmed the white-faced heron was a member of the egret clade.
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Wikipedia