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Black Heron | Egretta ardesiaca
Zwarte reiger | Garceta azabache
A medium-sized, all slate-grey to black heron from sub-Saharan Africa, famous for its umbrella fishing, in which it spreads its wings like a canopy over its head. In the region it is a rare vagrant to southern Arabia.
Voice
Usually silent; a low, hoarse kraak in disputes and at the colony.
Recording: Julien Birard — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
Slender and entirely dark slate-grey, almost black, with a short nape crest of long plumes and, in the breeding season, long loose feathers on the back and breast. Bill and legs black, with conspicuous yellow to orange-yellow toes. Juveniles are duller grey-brown without plumes. The behaviour is the best clue: when fishing it brings both wings forward into a closed canopy over its head and peers into the shaded water.
Confusion species
The dark morph of Western Reef Heron (Egretta gularis), common in Arabia, is larger and greyer, with a longer, thicker brownish-yellow bill, usually a white throat and no umbrella behaviour. The rare dark morph of Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) has a longer, slimmer neck and does not fish under a wing canopy. Slaty Egret (Egretta vinaceigula) of southern Africa, outside the region, has a rufous throat and yellow legs.
Habitat
Shallow fresh and brackish waters with open edges: coastal lagoons, floodplains, reservoir margins and rice fields. In Dhofar on the khawrs (closed coastal lagoons) with reeds and open, shallow water; near Jizan at a reservoir and a small coastal marsh.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the habitats of North Africa and the Middle East.
Range and movements
A vagrant. In Oman the first was at Khawr Rawri near Taqah in 1994; later records include Khawr Baqlah (2019) and, from 2025, a long-staying bird at Khawr al Mughsayl west of Salalah. In Saudi Arabia there are records near Jizan in 2022 and at the Wadi Jizan reservoir in 2024. Bahrain has a report from December 2023 (Sitra); so far north, captive origin cannot be ruled out. In Yemen, where the species might be expected from the Horn of Africa, there are no documented records. Beyond the region it is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal, Sudan and Ethiopia to South Africa, and on Madagascar.
How and when to look
Check every dark heron in Dhofar or around Jizan carefully: look for the yellow toes, the black bill and fishing under a wing canopy. The khawrs around Salalah are well watched in winter and are the best place to find the species; records should be submitted to the Oman Bird Records Committee.
Conservation status
Not globally threatened, with a large range in Africa. In the region a vagrant whose records have increased in recent years, perhaps partly because Dhofar and Jizan are now better covered.
Scientific name
Egretta ardesiaca | (Wagler, 1827)
Wagler described the species in 1827 as Ardea ardesiaca; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Egretta was introduced in 1817 by Forster. Egretta comes from Provençal aigrette, the name for the little egret, a diminutive of aigron 'heron'. ardesiaca is modern Latin for 'slate-coloured' — for the uniform slate-grey to black plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from Senegambia.