Size & diagnostic markings:- 58 Cm.  From the large Egret, this is a small bird. It comes as a dark morph as the bird shown here or white, looks of a normal Egret. For the dark morph it straightforward. Completely black and short legs. For the white morph, look for the white chin and throat. Breeding it has the usual short plumes on the nape and breast. The feet turns yellow.

Habitats & preferences:- At last, one Egret with a much different preference. This bird chooses Sea coast with rocks. Almost! It could also be man made structures like built area. The birds found foraging alone or in pairs on mudflats

Lastly an averagely small "Black" Egret, the Pacific Reef Egret measuring 58 cm. This is a bird from the coastal Andaman Seas, then the coast off the eastern Asian countries down to New Zealand.

This species is dimorphic with a dark and white morph. The Pacific Reef Egret species though may appear in white as well, but it is less elegant than the conventional white egrets. This species has shorter legs and beaks, most important a profile less pronounced.

As the name implies "Reef" this species is more seen in the northern part of Peninsula Malaysia.

 Pacific Reef Heron  1

 Pacific Reef Heron  2 by Rose Ong

 Pacific Reef Heron picture by Rose Ong

 Pacific Reef Heron . 4

 Pacific Reef Heron . 5

 Pacific Reef Heron. 6

 Pacific Reef Heron . 7

 Pacific Reef Heron . 8

 Pacific Reef Heron. 9

 Pacific Reef Heron . 10

In Malaysia, where can the bird be found:-  For me personally, have not spent so much time by the sea, I have seen this bird in several spots on Langkawi island. Common would be Pantai Kok and the private pier of Porto Malai

With Will would Wander