Bitterns, Herons and Egrets are long-legged, long-necked and pointed bill wading birds that belong to the Ardeidae family. Of these three birds, the Egrets and Herons are medium to large-sized ones with long legs and necks while bitterns have shorter necks and more cautious.
There are over 61 species of Bitters, Herons and Egrets Worldwide and about 17 of them are found in Uganda. These include Black-headed herons, Black-crowned Night-herons, Black herons, Cattle Egret, Dwarf Bittern, Grey heron, Intermediate Egret, Goliath Heron, Great Egrets, Great Bitterns, Little Egrets, White-backed Night-heron, Madagascar Pond Heron, Purple Heron, Rufous-bellied Heron, Squacco Heron and Striated Heron.
Great Egrets
Great Egrets are also known as Ardea alba and are slightly larger than the little or Cattle Egrets. They have yellow bills, long black legs and Cape of feathers dangling beyond their tails, especially during the breeding season. They are common in areas near water, thickets, trees and shrubs with their diet comprising of frogs for adults and regurgitated fish for chicks.
Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus ibis)
Cattle egrets are one of the smallest Egret species characterized by white feathered-bodies, short and stout necks as well as legs and orange-buff plumes on their heads. They derived their “cattle” name because of their close relationship with livestock as they feed on insects on their backs or stirred up by their hooves. They usually nest in colonies, mainly near water bodies although also thrive among other wading birds in open and drier habitats. They feed on flies, crickets and flies as well as earth worms, frogs and spiders.
Intermediate Egrets
These egrets derived their names from their size between Cattle egrets, Great egrets and little egrets. They are smaller than Great egrets with brownish feet, pale-yellow eyes, shorter necks, dome-shaped heads as well as shorter and thicker bills.
Goliath herons
Also referred as the “Giant herons”, Goliath Herons are also large wading birds in the Ardeidae family. With height of 120 to 152 centimeters, they have been recorded as the largest herons in the World. They weigh between 4-5 kilograms and boast of a wingspan of 185 to 230 centimeters. They are marked by chestnut and slate gray feathers, thick crest on their white chins, upper breasts, heads and forehead.
These herons live close to water bodies and even enjoy flying along water ways than on land. They feed on snakes, fish, frogs, insects, prawns and lizards. Goliath herons in Uganda can be found along the wetlands of Lake Victoria including Mabamba, banks of the Nile River within Murchison falls National Park and many other places.
Dwarf Bittern
Dwarf bitterns are small bitterns and almost similar size as the little bitterns. It is for this reason that they are sometimes mistakenly identified. Besides Uganda, they are also found in Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and many other African countries.
Madagascar Pond herons (Ardeola idae)
Uganda is one of the few places on Earth where you can see the Madagascar Pond herons. They can grow up to 45-50 centimeters high and their weight ranges between 250 and 350 grams. These herons are native to Madagascar and have green bills with black tips and yellow iris. They have mostly white flight feathers that are clearly seen while they are on-flight.
Great Bitterns
Great Bitterns are stocky and brown herons secretively found within reedbeds and are usually seen as single birds in flight. They are the largest bitterns and males are rather larger than their female counterparts, extending for 69-81 centimeters long, 100-130 centimeters wingspan and body weight of 0.87 to 1.94 kilograms.
Their crowns and napes are black with individual feathers being longer and loosely arranged. Great Bitterns normally visit rice fields, sewage works, flooded areas, fish farms, watercress beds, ditches, gravel pits and marshes.
