Breeding Location:
Coastal bays, Coastal mudflats and estuaries
Breeding Type:
Monogamous, Colonial
Breeding Population:
Rare
Egg Color:
Pale green to blue-white.
Number of Eggs:
2 - 5
Incubation Days:
20 - 25
Egg Incubator:
Both sexes
Nest Material:
Sticks and branches.
Migration:
Nonmigratory
Overview
Western Reef-Heron: This Old World species is exclusively coastal. There is a dark (shown here) and light morph. Dark morph is slate gray overall with white chin and throat. Legs are black with yellow feet. The light morph is white overall with two long narrow plumes on the back of the crown.
Range and Habitat
Western Reef-Heron: Found mainly on the coasts in tropical west Africa, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and east to India. The first record in North America was in Massachusetts in 1983. Since then it has been seen in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York.
Breeding and Nesting
Western Reef-Heron: Two to five pale green to blue-white eggs are laid on an untidy platform of sticks built by both sexes, located in a tree, on a rock ledge, under shrubs, or on the ground. Eggs are incubated for 20-25 days by both sexes. Semialtricial young stay in nest about 30 days.
Foraging and Feeding
Western Reef-Heron: Stalks in a crouched position on shallow reefs and mudflats. Diet includes fish, frogs, mollusks, crustaceans, and mice. Does not spear food, but grasps with mandibles and swallows whole.
Readily Eats
Vocalization
Western Reef-Heron: Generally silent, when disturbed gives a guttural "kawww."
Similar Species
Western Reef-Heron: Little Blue Heron is slate blue overall, head and neck are dark purple, bill is gray with a black tip, legs and feet are dull yellow-green.
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