Laboratório de Tecnologia Educacional BIBLIOTECA DIGITAL               DE CIÊNCIAS

60 a 70 cm. The top of the head, the back and the wings are black and the other parts of the body are mostly grey. The immature is brown and striated. Distribution: All over the world, except from the poles and Australia. Habitat: Slow flowing rivers, lakes, reservoirs and swamps. Diet: Aquatic insects, mollusks, crustaceans, fish, amphibians and reptiles. May also eat carrion and rests of food fallen from other bird’s nests, including dead hatchlings. Reproduction: Breeds in colonies together with other species of herons. The nests are built from 1 to 7m from the ground or water. Lays two or three bluish green or buffy eggs. Natural history: During most of the day it res...

53 cm. It is a beautiful heron with the upper parts grayish blue, the neck and the ventral region brownish yellow. The face is blue. Distribution: Open areas from Colombia to Argentina. Habitat: Unlike other herons it may be found very far from the water, thriving in open fields and only occasionally in wetlands. Diet: Feeds on mollusks, amphibians, lizards and insects, mainly grasshoppers. Hunts on the ground revolving the earth and grass with its beak. Reproduction: The courtship is very complex, beginning with displays of the male on the ground and then in the air. The nest is very simple and is built on tall trees. Lays 2 to 4 bluish grey eggs. Natural history: It is often...

Physical appearance: 36 cm. The legs are short and yellow. The body is predominantly grey, darker in the back. The top of the head is black. The immature is striated and brownish. Distribution: American Continent, Africa, Asia, Australia and islands in the Pacific. Habitat: Rivers, lakes and mangroves of different sizes. Diet: Aquatic insects, mollusks, amphibians, reptiles and fish. Reproduction: The nest is a platform on the top of tall trees. Lays three eggs. Natural history: Solitary and migratory. There are saw-like structures inside the beak to help holding slippery food. May be eaten by carnivorous fish such as the trahiras (Hoplias sp.) when walking on flooded land....

75 cm. Aquatic with narrow beak curved in the tip. The feet are webbed. The body is black and sometimes the throat is yellow. In the breeding season the male has some white feathers in the throat and ear region. The immature is fuliginous. Distribution: From Mexico to Southern South America Habitat: Lives in lakes, swamps and estuaries. Diet: Feeds on fish, even spiny ones. The gastric acids dissolve the spines. Reproduction: The nest is built on tall trees near lakes, sometimes mixing with heron flocks. Natural history: It is an excellent diver. When in flocks may pen fish schools, leading them to shallow water where they catch the fishes in frenzy. When it goes out of the wate...