Ardea sumatrana
The Great-billed Heron (Ardea sumatrana) is a truly impressive and often elusive giant among the Ardeidae family, distinguished by its immense size and somber plumage. Reaching an imposing length of 115-150 cm (45-59 inches) with a wingspan of 170-200 cm (67-79 inches) and weighing 2-2.6 kg (4.4-5.7 lbs), it stands as one of the largest herons in the world. Its most striking field marks include its uniformly dark slate-grey body, a slightly paler throat, a prominent blackish crest, and, as it...
Found primarily in coastal and estuarine environments, inhabiting extensive mangrove forests, tidal mudflats, coral reefs, and remote islands at sea level up to low elevations.
Primarily piscivorous, feeding on a variety of fish, but also consuming crustaceans (crabs, shrimp) and mollusks, often captured using a patient stand-and-wait or slow-stalk foraging method.
Typically a solitary and highly secretive bird, the Great-billed Heron is active both diurnally and crepuscularly, often hunting in the dim light of dawn or dusk. Its foraging strategy is characterized by extreme patience, employing a 'stand-and-wait' or slow-stalking method in deeper water, some...
The Great-billed Heron exhibits a broad but often patchy distribution across Southeast Asia and Australasia, from the eastern coast of India through Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Its range extends further east into the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and down t...
Least Concern
- The Great-billed Heron is one of the largest heron species in the world, often surpassing other large herons in sheer bulk and bill size. - It is sometimes referred to as the 'Ghost of the Mangroves' due to its extremely shy and elusive nature, making it a prized sighting for birdwatchers. - It...