Chinese Pond-heron: Non-breeding

“We unexpectedly surprised each other – Chinese Pond-heron (Ardeola bacchus) and myself. Hence the look on the bird’s face (below).

“Note the bill colours of this non-breeding bird (above, below).

“In breeding birds usually the distal one third of the bill is black. But in non-breeding birds the common appearance is the almost the entire upper mandible is black. The lower mandible maintains black only at the distal portion.

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
18th October 2018

Location: Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Wetlands area