Ardea melanocephala

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Habitat

Typically found in a lake at a mean distance from sea level of 1,292 meters (4,240 feet).[1]

Ecology: Behaviour Although populations of this species breeding in the equatorial zone of Africa are largely sedentary other populations are partially migratory and move in relation to the timing of the dry seasons1. The species nests in small mixed-species colonies of up to 200 pairs with breeding activities peaking during the rains1. The species is usually a solitary forager, but may occasionally congregate into loose feeding flocks1, 2 and commonly roosts in groups of tens to hundreds of individuals2. Individuals may travel over 30 km daily between preferred feeding grounds and roosting sites1. Habitat The species inhabits marshes1, 3 with reed and papyrus beds1, 4, the margins of rivers and lakes , estuaries1, coastal creeks3 and flats2, temporary pools3 and natural savannas or artificial grasslands2 including damp open pastures, moist grassland and cultivated land1. Diet Its diet consists of terrestrial and aquatic insects1 (especially Orthoptera), earthworms2, crabs1, Arachnids (e.g. scorpions and spiders)2, small mammals (e.g. rats , water voles, musk-shrews2 and mice3), lizards, snakes , frogs , birds and fish1, 2, 3. Insects are the most important prey item for the species during the rains, although these become less important as grasslands dry out2. Breeding site The nest is a platform of sticks usually positioned high in trees1 (e.g. eucalyptus, baobab, acacia, fig or palm)4 or in reedbeds1, 4, papyrus beds , floating islands of papyrus or on sandstone ledges4. The species nests in colonies with up to 35 pairs nesting in one tree4. Management information In Cameroon the re-flooding of a desiccated flood-plain twinned with an increase in rainfall and colony protection resulted in a increase in the number of breeding pairs of this species6.

[2].

List of Habitats :

•     2     Savanna   
  
•     2.1     Savanna - Dry   
  
•     4     Grassland   
  
•     4.5     Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry   
  
•     5     Wetlands (inland)   
  
•     5.1     Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls )   
  
•     5.4     Wetlands (inland) - Bogs , Marshes, Swamps , Fens , Peatlands   
  
•     5.5     Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)   
  
•     9     Marine Neritic   
  
•     9.10     Marine Neritic - Estuaries   
  
•     14     Artificial/Terrestrial   
  
•     14.3     Artificial/Terrestrial - Plantations   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001

Similar Species

Members of the genus Ardea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 24 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. alba (Great White Egret) · A. alba alba (Great White Egret) · A. cinerea (European Blue Heron) · A. cinerea cinerea (European Blue Heron) · A. cocoi (White-Necked Heron) · A. goliath (Goliath Heron) · A. herodias (Northwestern Coast Heron) · A. herodias fannini (Great Blue Heron) · A. herodias herodias (Great Blue Heron) · A. herodias hyperonca (Great Blue Heron) · A. herodias occidentalis (Great White Heron) · A. herodias sanctilucae (Great Blue Heron) · A. herodias treganzai (Great Blue Heron) · A. herodias wardi (Great Blue Heron) · A. humbloti (Madagascar Heron) · A. imperialis (White-Bellied Heron) · A. insignis (White-Bellied Heron) · A. melanocephala (Black-Headed Heron) · A. novaehollandiae (White-Faced Heron) · A. pacifica (White-Necked Heron) · A. picata (Pied Heron) · A. purpurea (Purple Heron) · A. sumatrana (Great-Billed Heron) · A. sumatrana sumatrana (Great-Billed Heron)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A catalogue of the collection of birds formed by the late Hugh Edwin Strickland. Cambridge, Univ. Press, 1882. url p. 515.
• A handbook of European birds for the use of field naturalists and collectors. By James Backhouse. London, Gurney and Jackson, 1890. url p. 316.
• A history of the birds of Europe, not observed in the British Isles / by C. R. Bree. London: G. Bell & Sons, 1875-1876. url p. 147.
• A history of the birds of Europe: including all the species inhabiting the western palaearctic region / London: Published by the Author, 1871-1881. url , p. 225.
• A list of European birds, including all those found in the western palaearctic area, with a supplement containing species said to have occurred, but which, for various reasons, are inadmissible. London, R.H. Porter, 1898. url p. 41.
• A list of European birds: including all species found in the western palaearctic region: the nomenclature carefully revised / by Henry E. Dresser. London: H.E. Dresser, 1881. url p. 26.
• A manual of palæarctic birds, by H. E. Dresser. London, The author, 1902-03. url p. 566.
• A naturalist on Lake Victoria: with an account of sleeping sickness and the tse-tse fly / by G.D. Hale Carpenter. .. with 2 coloured plates, a map, charts, and 87 illustrations. New York: E. P. Dutton, c1920. url p. 158, p. 331.
• A naturalist on lake Victoria, with an account of sleeping sickness and the tse-tse fly, by G.D. Hale Carpenter. .. with 2 coloured plates, a map, charts, and 87 illustrations. London, T.F. Unwin ltd.[1920] url , p. 158, p. 331.
• Annals of the South African Museum. Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Cape Town [etc., South African Museum, etc.] url p. 349.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url , p. 142, p. 17, p. 397.
• Bulletin / Peabody Museum of Natural History. 1972 New Haven: Peabody Museum of Natural History, url fig. 9.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 75 Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url p. 146, p. 27, p. 398, p. 7, p. 7, p. 72.
• Catalogue of a collection of birds from British East Africa, by Ned Dearborn. .. 1 1909 Chicago, 1909. url p. 152.
• Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. London, 1874-98. url p. 268, p. 70.
• Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum / By E. W. Oates [and afterwards] by S. G. Reid [and] W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. London, 1901-12. url p. 113.
• Catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs in the British museum (Natural history). London: Printed by order of the Trustees, 1901-12. url p. 113.
• Check-list of birds of the world. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1931-1987. url p. 201, p. 98.
• Game, shore, and water birds of India, with additional references to their allied species in other parts of the world. London, W. Thacker, 1904. url .
• Guide to the birds of Europe and North Africa. With a biographical memoir by William Eagle Clarke. London, Gurney and Jackson, 1923. url p. 209.
• IUCN Directory of Afrotropical Protected Areas IUCN, UNEP url p. 1012, p. 253, p. 318, p. 452.
• Ibis. [London]Published for the British Ornithologists' Union by Academic Press. url , p. 128, p. 187, p. 204, p. 205, p. 22, p. 255, p. 27, p. 293, p. 325, p. 372, p. 404, p. 440, p. 485, p. 496, p. 523, p. 535, p. 551, p. 62, p. 69, p. 709, p. 788, p. 97, p. 97.
• In wildest Africa / by C.G. Schillings; translated by Frederic Whyte. London: Hutchinson, 1907. url p. 330.
• International catalogue of scientific literature. LondonPublished for the International Council by the Royal Society of London1901-1920 url p. 43.
• Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society: official publication of the Coryndon Memorial Museum (Museum Trustees of Kenya). Nairobi, Kenya: The Museum, 1942-[1960] url p. 1, p. 158.
• Madagascar: an environmental profile IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 175.
• Matabele land and the Victoria Falls: a naturalist's wanderings in the interior of South Africa, from the letters and journals of the late Frank Oates / edited by C.G. Oates. London: C.K. Paul, 1881. url p. 326, p. 371.
• Notes on the birds of Damara Land and the adjacent countries of South-west Africa. London, J. van Voorst, 1872. url , .
• Notes on the birds of Damara land and the adjacent countries of the south-west Africa. By the late Charles John Anderson. .. Arranged and edited by John Henry Gurney, with some additional notes by the editor, and and introductory chapter containing a sketch of the author's life, abridge London, J. van Voorst1872. url p. 284, p. 285.
• On a collection of birds from North-Eastern Abyssinia and the Bogos Country / London: Zoological Society of London, 1870. url .
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 3, p. 32, p. 827.
• Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. London: Academic Press, [etc.], 1833-1965. url , p. 597, p. 597, p. 599, p. 859.
• Results of the Swedish zoological expedition to Egypt and the White Nile, 1901, under the direction of L.A. Jägerskiöld. [Uppsala]Library of the Royal University of Uppsala[1904-11] url p. 12.
• Revue méthodique et critique des collections déposées dans cet établissement. Leyden, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie. url p. 6.
• Savage Sudan; its wild tribes, big-game and bird-life, by Abel Chapman. .. With 248 illustrations, chiefly from rough sketches by the author. London [etc.]: Gurney and Jackson, 1921. url p. 245.
• Sketches of South African bird-life, Cape Town, T. M. Miller, 1914. url .
• The Avicultural magazine. Ascot, Berkshire, etc.: Avicultural Society, etc. url p. 246.
• The Ibis. [London]: Published for the British Ornithologists' Union by Academic Press. url p. 450.
• The Journal of the South African Ornithologists' Union. Pretoria. url p. 103, p. 198, p. 31, p. 46, p. 78.
• The birds of South Africa, London, R. H. Porter, 1900-1906. url , , .
• The birds of South Africa, by Arthur C. Stark. .. London: R. H. Porter, 1900-1906. url , p. 55, p. 60, p. 61.
• The natural history of South Africa. by F.W. Fitzsimons. London, New York [etc.]Longmans, Green and co., 1923. url p. 287.
• Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. [London]: Published for the Zoological Society of London by Academic Press url p. 328.
• Wissenschaftliche ergebnisse der Deutschen Zentral-Africa-Expedition, 1907-1908: unter Führung Adolf Friedrichs, herzogs zu Mecklenburg. Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1910- url p. 253.
• Zoologist. London.1843-1916 url p. 343.

Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2009. Ardea melanocephala. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 30January2012.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 29, 2007:

• BeBIF Provider, Royal Museum of Central Africa - Albertian Rift Birds
• Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen, Biologiezentrum Linz
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 8830
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-174787
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14156414
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 174787
• IUCN ID: 192485
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 152784

Footnotes

1. Standard Deviation = 503.380 based on 39 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
2. BirdLife International 2009. Ardea melanocephala. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.