Striated Heron

Butorides striata

Griffin, Brisbane, SE Qld IMG_0764 20151020 - macrorhyncha grey form. CLICK for another view.

Notes: Small stocky heron w. black cap to nape, large head & grey/yellow bill. Short yellow legs,
orange when breeding. Dimorphic w. rufous & greyish forms. Ssp macrorhyncha of E coast (short-
billed, greyish & red-brown forms); ssp stagnatilis (long-billed, paler, greyer in N but further S in
Pilbara, a reddish-brown tinge). Mainly in mangroves; forages in creeklines, tidal flats when tide
low.

Range from Morcombe©
Cairns Foreshore, FNE Qld IMG_1415 20200601 - macrorhyncha common rufous form in Cairns. CLICK for young adult
Cairns North on 20230312. Foreshore, Cairns North, FNE Qld IMG_6333 20240201 - macrorhyncha grey form, catching fish. CLICK for positioning. Foreshore, Cairns North, FNE Qld IMG_5312 20231008 - macrorhyncha grey form. CLICK for another at Cairns Ports,
20231003. Foreshore, Cairns, FNE Qld IMG_0766 20200528 - macrorhyncha, rufous form. CLICK for another view of this bird. Centenary Lakes, Cairns North, FNE Qld IMG_9746 20210502 - macrorhyncha pale grey form. CLICK for a variant. Cairns Foreshore, FNE Qld IMG_3371 20210529 - macrorhyncha juvenile: coarse buff & dark streaking on sides of throat,
bold buff-white spotting on upperwing coverts. CLICK for on 20200502 Cairns Foreshore, FNE Qld IMG_1462 20191025 - macrorhyncha juvenile flying. CLICK for a juvenile on 20210514. Wyndham, FNE WA IMG_7470 20180814 - stagnatilis paler, greyer than E coast birds. Wyndham, FNE WA IMG_5177 20180930 - stagnatilis Pilbara area birds have reddish-brown tinge upperparts, pale
reddish-buff underparts. CLICK for another view of this one. Foreshore, Cairns, FNE Qld IMG_6870 20200412 - macrorhyncha One Tree, Roebuck Bay, Broome, NW WA MVI_2222 20180910 - stagnatilis with mud skipper prey.

Freshwater Lake, Centenary Lakes, Cairns, FNE Qld IMG_6468 20230819 macrorhyncha juvenile hunting.