Ardeidae

A very large dark grey-brown heron with a heavy, mostly dark bill, yellow facial skin and a short crest; eye silvery-brown, legs grey. Immature: more rufous; no crest or plumes.

Diurnal, Birds seem to pair permanently and hold a foraging territory of riverfront. Shy and difficult to approach, rests in trees, feeds at low tide along mangrove-lined waterways and mudbanks.

Coastal Wetlands, Mangroves; mud flats; estuaries; floodplains; lagoons; rivers of Northern Australia.

Breeds throughout year depending on food. 2; light bluish green, nest of coarse stisks in mangrove trees. Incubation by both sexes.

Kakadu National Park

Carnivore, Crabs and marine invertebrates; catfish.