Striated Heron
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[Photo] Striated Heron (Butorides striatus), seen in al-Qurm park, Oman, November 2004. Photo: Per-Anders Olsson

The Striated Heron Butorides striatus also known as Mangrove Heron or Little Heron, is a small heron.

Adults have a blue-grey back and wings, white underparts, a black cap and short yellow legs. Juveniles are browner above and streaked below.

Their breeding habitat is small wetlands in the Old World tropics from west Africa to Japan and Australia, and in South America. They are mostly non-migratory. They nest in a platform of sticks often in shrubs or trees, sometimes on the ground, often near water, laying 3-5 eggs.

These birds stand still at the water's edge and wait to ambush prey, but are easier to see than many small heron species. They mainly eat small fish, frogs and aquatic insects.

They sometimes use bait, dropping a feather or leaf carefully on the water surface and picking fish that visit it.

This bird is often considered to be conspecific with the closely related North American species, the Green Heron.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striated_Heron

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