Chinese Pond Heron

Ardeola bacchus (Bonaparte, 1855)

Chinese Pond Heron, Ardeola bacchus, is a heron in the family Ardeidae that breeds from Assam in north-east India and northern Myanmar through the Russian Far East, Japan and southern China. Outside the breeding season it ranges from the Andaman Islands east to the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan and south to the Greater Sundas. It is one of the pond herons in the genus Ardeola, and it is closely placed alongside the Indian pond heron to the west and the Javan pond heron to the south. It was described by Bonaparte in 1855.

Order

Pelecaniformes

Family

Ardeidae — Herons, Bitterns

Breeding range

Palearctic, Oriental Region: Assam (ne India) and n Myanmar through Russian Far East, Japan and s China

Nonbreeding range

Andaman Is. e to Ryukyu Is. (s Japan) s to Greater Sundas