Family:
The squacco heron is a small, brown heron which is inconspicuous and can often be hard to spot. In breeding season, it has peach, buff, or cinnamon plumage with white wings and tail, and long, black-edged plumes at the nape. On the head, the chin and throat are white. The bill is blue with a black tip, and the legs are pinkish.
In non-breeding plumage, it is sandy brown with dark grey streaks on the head. The bill is black above and yellow below.
The name squacco comes from a local Italian word sguacco, that is possibly imitative of the bird’s call.
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Squacco herons eat insects, larvae, grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, crustaceans, molluscs, fish, and amphibians. The occasionally take small birds.
In breeding season, squacco herons are found in southern Europe, and western, eastern, and southern Africa in freshwater habitats such as swamps, marshes, lakes, rivers, and wet grasslands. Northern populations are migratory and move south for the winter.
