Malaysian Birds
 PELECANIFORMES:
35  Ardeidae
Bitterns

Bitterns which are water birds and look like heron. In fact Bitterns are classified within the same family of birds as the Herons i.e. Ardeidae.

Bitterns have shorter-neck, most Bitterns [only 2] that I met up with were secretive birds hiding and tend to fly off immediately at first sight. They hide in reed bed and stay in marshy areas looking for amphibians, reptiles, insect and fishes. Unlike Storks or herons which fly with their neck outstretched, Bitterns have their neck retracted.

They are migratory in the sense that I didn't get to see them often. In any case, most Cinnamon Bitterns that I met up with were well hidden in the tall rice stalks.

Yes, Bittern naturally shy, more likely to be heard than to being seen.  Most of the time they have this habits of staying within the bed of water hyacinths which have rather tall leaves. Another favorite habitat is the rice fields. They, also follow a skulking  pattern and weaving in between rice stalks, lastly becoming more active at dusk. In both circumstances, they will never be spotted and having a restful lifestyle.

Most Bittern can be considered to be nocturnal due this nature of hunting. Yellow & Cinnamon Bittern is quite often seen in the daylight hours when the bird stay exposed. However under these conditions and when the Bittern was caught off guard and could not fly off in time, it tried escaping attention by standing motionless with bill uplifted to point to the sky. The beak to look just like a yellowish brown dried rice stalks. This habit dies hard even when they are not staying within the dried rice fields. So the Bittern was forgetting that its brown and yellow markings and striped neck may not be blending well with the green rice stalk. Cannot blame them having that illusion as the only time they could be spotted in open fields would be the period of empty fields after harvest. That time the bird's body color and stripes blends in well with the rich golden cut grasses and ripen rice stalks.

 In south-east Asia, there are only 5 species of Bitterns and all of them could be sighted in Malaysia. As I wrote earlier these shy birds are not easy to meet up with. So I this page I should be contended with the only 2 species that every one here have seen.

1. Black Bittern
   
 

 

2. Cinnamon Bittern

 
   
3. Great Bittern
   
4. Schrenck's Bittern
   
5. Yellow Bittern

 
   
35  Ardeidae
 
 Herons

Waterbirds - there are so many of these long legged, long necks and sharp beaks birds sharing the lot of features they all have in common. In this family Ardeidae, there are 64 recognized species, though some white colored birds are changed to be called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron".

It is not easy to make a distinct classification of individual heron/egret species, as the tiny differences between them is not that clear cut. Like wise making an ID of them, for example between the various species of Egrets which are all white in color, is not easy. The differences between Herons & Egrets, could be somewhat a little bit more straight forward. All Egrets are assumed to have white feathers [all except the Pacific Reef] So much about introducing this family, Ardeidae and back to this page  that deals with birds having Heron as their names.

Heron, too, nest as a colony in trees.

Herons

The largest Heron seen in Malaysia is the Purple Heron at 90 cm  while the Striated Heron, the smallest at 40 cm. Some features of these Herons. They are able to kink their neck into an s-shape, due to the modified shape of the sixth vertebrae. Likewise, this action of retracting and extending is also used in flight. The smaller Herons, Pond Herons or Night Herons have shorter necks. The legs, bare without feathers, are long and strong are held backwards in flight. Finally, the bills are long and harpoon like. These bills could be fine or thick. As for colors, only the Pond Heron display dimorphism in plumage.

 

Grey Heron
   

Great-billed Heron

 
   

Purple Heron

 
   

Striated Heron
   
   

Night Heron

Malaysian Night Heron
   

Black-crowned Night Heron
   

Rufous Night Heron

 
   

Pond-Heron

There are 3 species of Pond herons that could be sighted in Malaysia, they are all near identical size - 45 cm.

Chinese Pond Heron

It is a bird  of India, China and wintering in the south. This is a fairly common bird in Malaysia. I think in Central Peninsula, makes up the majority of Pond-Heron that we get to see.
   

Javan Pond Heron

Resident in Java, Bali,  Borneo and Philippines -vagrant in Malaysia.

 
   

Indian Pond Heron

This is a bird found in Iran, Afghanistan an the Indian sub-continent  Vagrant in Malaysia

 
   

 

All the 3 birds having almost identical features albeit some very minor differences. Very difficult to tell them apart in their normal non-breeding plumages. Likewise, when they take flight the underside of the wings and tail is also white. Take note, when in doubt whether the bird is a Pond heron or Night Heron. Wait till it flies.

Pond herons are most likely seen in open areas with pools of waters, e.g. sewage ponds, fish ponds and padi fields. They could also be among the low trees by the river and in mudflats.

The only way to ID them is when they are in breeding plumage. Pictures in separate tables below would show. But first, this is a series of pictures showing Pond-heron in general.

Although all the birds named have their habitats related water. So not surprising that I have seen all the 3 groups of them in a single space sharing the same feeding and breeding environment. Other than this common turf, for myself, mentally I associate them in different settings. First, I go according to various habitats that they are seen most often - for example, the Herons in open country, the Pond-herons in sewage ponds and waterways and the Night-herons in colony. I think each of us will eventually find our own way to do a quick ID on these birds.

To conclude this page on Herons, I must say that Herons, particularly the Pond heron with their breeding plumage is interesting. There is only a small window of time each year, to do all the following up for ID and picture taking.

A good portion of the page on Heron is taken up by the Malayan Night Herons, which is a bird that is nearly impossible to follow. Just simply "not there" for us to watch or doing any follow up visit to learn more about them.

Against that background of obstacles in preparing this page, i think that when the name Hero is mentioned, it is no surprise that most people would think of the Purple, Grey and Little Herons. And also in this same order, that the birders are familiar with. Now I hope with more awareness, I am included, we should spend more time to ponder over the facts that we know so little about this group of birds.
35  Ardeidae

Egrets

 Egrets share this family with other birds Herons & Bittern which are all having the same body profiles and habitats. Bitterns. All these birds are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds and there are 64 recognized species in this family. Some Egrets joined other Herons to nest colonially on trees while a couple of species use reed beds.

The necks are able to kink in an s-shape, due to the modified shape of the sixth vertebrae. The neck is able to retract and extend, and is retracted during flight, unlike most other long-necked birds. To differentiate itself from the Herons, all Egrets are white in color except one species, the Pacific Reef Egret has two color morphs, the light and the dark. The percentage of each morph varies geographically. White morphs only occur in areas with coral beaches.

Most Egrets are seen in open country with wetlands but gather in large numbers in the rice fields and mudflats. There may be isolated individuals staying under the shelters on river banks. Apart from the variance in size between a couple very marginal, it is a daunting task to make a positive ID in the field as judgment by size is neither easy. I will attempt to list out some method commonly used to differentiate them.

Focusing on Egrets that can be seen in Malaysia:

 

   
1. Cattle Egret
   
2. Chinese Egret

 
   
3. Great Egret
   
4. Intermediate Egret
   
5. Little Egret
   
6.Pacific Reef-Heron
   

 

The image of Egrets is very fixed in the minds of the local - they are all in white, large birds and very often flying in flocks. Of course not many people know that there are divided into so many species, large and small. For the bird watchers, this is a dull looking bird but with the challenging task of being able to ID each and every one properly as they are encountered.

 

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With Will would Wander