Black Heron

 Detail About Black Heron :

Black Heron is the darkest of the egrets. Plumage is black overall, with bluish or slate-grey gloss. Wing feathers including secondaries, axillaries, scapulars and lesser coverts are long and broad.  Primaries are broad on the  head, the crown shows a shaggy crest made with black, lanceolate feathers on the hind crown and the nape. Eyes are bright yellow. Bill and legs are black. In adults, the feet are bright orange, and this contrast is very conspicuous in flight. The toes turn sometimes to red at the beginning of the breeding season.

Both sexes are similar.
Juveniles are duller and browner. They lack the long feathers. 

Habits :

The black heron uses a hunting method called canopy feeding—it uses its wings like an umbrella, creating shade that attracts fish. This technique was well documented on episode 5 of the BBC's The life of bird.Some have been observed feeding in solitary, while others feed in groups of up to 50 individuals, 200 being the highest number reported. The black heron feeds by day but especially prefers the time around sunset. It roosts communally at night, and coastal flocks roost at high tide. The primary food of the black heron is small fish, but it will also eat aquatic insects, crustaceans and amphibians.

         The nest of the black heron is constructed of twigs placed over water in trees, bushes, and reed beds, forming a solid structure. The heron nests at the beginning of the rainy season, in single or mixed-species colonies that may number in the hundreds. The eggs are dark blue and the clutch is two to four eggs.

Black Heron Basic information:

Kingdom: Animalia.

Phylun: Chordata. 

Class: Aves.

Order: Bucerotiformes.

Family: Bucerotidae.

Genus: Anthracoceros.

Species: A. malayanus.

Binomial Name: Anthracoceros malayanus.