Slaty Egret

Egretta vinaceigula (Sharpe, 1895)

Slaty Egret Egretta vinaceigula is a heron of south-central Africa, breeding from Zambia to north-western Namibia, northern Botswana and western Zimbabwe. It is a small, dark egret with yellow legs and a vinous brown throat that can extend onto the belly in young birds. It was once treated as the same bird as the black egret, but it is now recognised as distinct. It uses floodplains, freshwater marshes and temporary wetlands, and breeds in seasonally flooded marshes, usually in reed beds or on vegetated islands.

Order

Pelecaniformes

Family

Ardeidae — Herons, Bitterns

Breeding range

Africa: Zambia to ne Namibia, n Botswana and w Zimbabwe