Striated Heron - Definition and Overview

The Striated Heron (or Mangrove Heron or Little Heron), Butorides striatus, is a small heron.

Adults have a blue-grey back and wings, white underparts, a black cap and short yellow legs. Juveniles are browner above and streaked below.

Their breeding habitat is small wetlands in the Old World tropics from west Africa to Japan. They are mostly non-migratory. They nest in a platform of sticks often in shrubs or trees, sometimes on the ground, often near water, laying 3-5 eggs.

These birds stand still at the water's edge and wait to ambush prey, but are easier to see than many small heron species. They mainly eat small fish, frogs and aquatic insects.

This bird is often considered to be conspecific with the closely-related American species, the Green Heron.