more impressively, they may bait fish and other prey, e.g., by dropping
a leaf onto the surface. Unlike other herons, Little Herons are not deterred
by the rising tide as they are small enough to perch on overhanging branches,
though often precariously.
Striated Heron, Green-backed Heron
Pucung Keladi/Bakau (Malay)
Herons are often encountered at Sungei Buloh Nature Park, hunched
into a compact egg-shape on a branch over the water, motionless but
intently looking out for prey. Clothed in their camouflaging plumage,
the less observant visitor often overlooks them.
Little Herons eat mainly small fish and crustacea (especially crabs).
They also take amphibians and insects and any other edible titbits,
including small mammals.
Herons use a wide variety of hunting techniques, but usually hunt
from cover and rarely forage on the open mudflats.
Often, they perch-and-wait on a branch or root over the water, tucking
in their necks and crouching in a low forward position over the water.
They may flick their crests up and down as they wait.
Little Herons may also jump, plunge or swim after their prey. Or they
may use their feet to stir up or rake the surface for titbits. They
may even dive into the water.
and wetland wildlife at
Sungei Buloh Nature Park
Main features: Small (40-46cm); greenish-grey;
neck short; black crown with long black crest;
underparts paler grey; bill black; legs and toes pale
yellow/ orange; facial skin greenish. Genders look alike.
Juvenile: Generally duller;
upperparts dark brown; white spots on wings; throat, neck
and breast white streaked brown; legs dull green.
In flight: Wings appear all
dark; toes project well beyond tail.
Call: A quiet bird. Its call
described as a harsh single ke-yow or chauk
when flushed into flight; a raspy kitch-itch-itch;
a loud kweak..kee-kee-kee.
Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax): Although they
have a similar hunched over profile, the Little Heron
is smaller and dirtier looking.
Status in Singapore: The
most common and widespread resident heron. Also a rare
winter visitor (A. s. amurensis). Throughout the
island including North and South offshore islands.
World distribution: Old World
tropics and subtropics including Australia, except Europe.
Classification: Family Ardeidae.
World 65 species, Singapore 17 species. There are several
subspecies of this heron, the local subspecies is A.
Both adults and young birds have a partial web between the middle and outer
toes, which may allow them to swim. Nestlings that fall into the water paddle
efficiently to safety. And adult birds paddle back after plunging into water
have long necks!
Where does it go?
I still don't know.
These solitary birds usually hunt and roost alone and are highly territorial.
But in good feeding areas, several of them may be spaced out at regular
intervals. Little Herons prefer to hunt during the early morning and
late evening, in shallow waters lined with vegetation which provide
good perches and hiding places: mainly mangroves, estuaries, coral
reefs and rocky coasts. They may also be found, less commonly and
in smaller numbers, in freshwater wetlands such as swamps, streams,
canals, reservoirs, and even parks and gardens.
Breeding: In Singapore, Little
Herons appear to breed year-round. Courtship displays involve crest
raising, neck fluffing with aerial displays, circle and crooked-neck
flights and snap displays. This is accompanied by their harsh rasping
courting calls and constant tail flicking. Usually, the male performs
Little Herons usually nest alone, but loose colonies of up to 10 nesting
pairs have been encountered, sometimes several nests to one tree.
They prefer to nest in mangroves, in trees or in bushes, often over
water. They do not appear to nest further than 3 km from the coast.
They build flimsy platform nests out of twigs about 30 cm wide and
5cm deep. Nests are built at 2-10 m up. In Sungei Buloh, nests were
first recorded in February 2000, made in the mangrove tree, Blind
Your Eye (Excoecaria allgalocha) about 5m from the ground.
2-7, usually 5-4, pale greenish-blue eggs are laid. Both parents incubate.
Hatchlings are covered in yellow down and emerge at the same time.
Both parents feed and raise the young. The young remain in the nest
until they fledge. But if disturbed, they will scramble out of the
nest and cling to branches to make it more difficult for predators
to pick them off.
Migration: Little Herons are generally resident in their range,
but those that breed far north in East Asia (A. s. amurensis) do
migrate south. These rare visitors to Singapore are slightly larger and
usually travel at night.
Status and threats: Little Herons do
not appear to be under serious threat as they are still very widespread
and found even on oceanic islands. But like other herons, they are affected
by habitat destruction and pollution of their environment. In the
past they were hunted for food although they apparently only make "tolerable
- Morten Strange,
"A Photographic Guide to Birds of Malaysia and Singapore: including
Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Borneo", Periplus, 2000
(p. 48: description, voice, habits, distribution, status, photo).
- Morten Strange,
"Tropical Birds of Malaysia and Singapore", Periplus
Editions, 2000 (p. 4: habits, habitat, photo).
- Ramakrishnan R
K, "Nesting Little Herons of Sungei Buloh", Wetlands,
Vol 7 no. 2 Aug 2000 (p. 15: description of nesting behaviour in Sungei
Buloh, fact sheet).
- Lim Kim Seng,
"Pocket Checklist of the Birds of the Republic of Singapore",
Nature Society (Singapore), 1999 (Abundance, status, Chinese and Malay
- David R Wells,
"The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula: Vol. 1 (Non-Passarines)",
Academic Press, 1999 (p. 76-77: identification, distribution map, habits,
habitat, migration, conservation).
- Lim Kim Seng and
Dana Gardner, "Birds: An Illustrated Field Guide to the Birds
of Singapore", Sun Tree Publishing Ltd., 1997 (p. 85: identification,
status in Singapore, distribution, diagram, number of species).
- G W H Davison
and Chew Yen Fook, "A Photographic Guide to Birds of Peninsular
Malaysia and Singapore", New Holland Publishers Ltd., 1995
(p. 18: identification, status in Singapore, distribution, photo).
- Morten Strange
and Allen Jeyarajasingam, "Birds: A Photographic Guide to the
Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore", Sun Tree Publishing,
1993 (p. 109: description, distribution, habits, habitat, photo).
- Clive Briffett,
"A Guide to the Common Birds of Singapore", BP Science
Centre,1992 (p. 45: habit, habitat).
- Christopher Hails,
"Birds of Singapore" illustrated by Frank Jarvis, Times
Editions, 1987 reprinted 1995 (p. 51: habits, description, status in
Singapore, and lovely drawings of the birds).
- M W F Tweedie,
"Common Birds of the Malay Peninsula", Longman,1970
(p. 9: description, distribution, habits, habitat, drawing).
- Sir John A S Bucknill
and E N Chasen, "Birds of Singapore and South-East Asia",
Tynron Press, 1927, edition 1990 (p. 85-87: identification, status in
Singapore, distribution, field notes on habits).
- G C Madoc, "An
Introduction to Malayan Birds", Malayan Nature Society, 1947
(p. 33-34: description, habits, habitat).
- James Hancock,
"Herons and Egrets of the World: A photographic journey",
Academic Press, 1999 (p. 157-161: identification, distribution, status,
feeding, breeding, and photos of all life stages).