Ardeidae

Large head and slightly drooped crest, pink-brown to greyish below with whitish and blackish marks down centre of foreneck. Bill black, eye yellow, legs and feet dull-yellow, orange in breeding plumage.

Diurnal, Solitary birds, roosting alone.

Coastal, Muddy foreshores; flats of inlets & rivers; mangroves.

September to December, 2 to 4; pale bluish-green, dull surface. , nest a platform of stick in a fork of mangrove. Incubation 21-25 days by both sexes, young fledge in four weeks.

Kakadu National Park

Carnivore, Fish and crustaceans; molluscs; insects and mudskippers.