Pond heron - Ardeola grayii

Common Name :	Pond heron, Indian pond heron, paddybird.
Binomial Name :	Ardeola grayii
Family :	Ardeidae
Bengali Name :	Kani bok (কানি বক).
Photo Taken :	Bangladesh, India.

Pond heron, also known as Indian pond heron, paddybird that is native to South Asia. Binomial name of the bird is Ardeola grayii. It belongs to the bird family Ardeidae. In Bangladesh this bird is known as Kani bok (কানি বক) or Kani boga (কানি বগা). This bird is very common and widespread in our country Bangladesh along with South Asia.

An Indian pond heron in a field.

Pond heron (Ardeola grayii) is a small sized heron with short neck. The back and upper portion of wing color is brownish but the underside and front side is white in color. The neck and part of front side of the bird is streaked. The bill of the bird is blackish with a touch of yellow. Iris of the bird is also yellow in color. Male and female birds are similar. During the flight the bird looks white due to prominent white color (which remains hidden other time).

A Pond heron is perched on a bamboo beside a lake.

Pond heron (Ardeola grayii) prefers to live near the wetland, paddy field, etc area as they heavily depends upon hunting fishes, frogs, and other insects. They like to stand in one place for a long time until the catch the prey. They also take their position over the floating hyacinths while waiting for the prey. When the wetland dries they forage on land to catch insects.

A Pond heron on a tree.

Pond heron's color gives them a nice camouflage while waiting for the prey. It sometimes get very difficult to notice them while they are not moving. That's why they do not fly until anything gets really close to them. That makes village people in Bangladesh believed that the bird is short sighted, and thus people call them Kani Bok (কানি বক) which means blind heron.

A group of Pond herons are patrolling in paddy field.

Breeding season for Pond heron (Ardeola grayii) is the monsoon. They prefer to make the nest by collecting the small sticks and piling them together. These birds are semi colonial, and make their nest with other wading birds. If there is no threat to the nest then they tends to reuse the nest year after year.

A Pond heron in a hunting mood near a swamp.

A Pond heron beside paddy field. The color gives them a nice camouflage.

A Pond heron on a banana leaf.

Photos of these Indian pond heron (Ardeola grayii) were taken from several locations of India and Bangladesh during late autumn and winter.


This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icbird.blogspot.com/