Black Heron (Egretta ardesiaca) - BirdLife species factsheet

Black Heron Egretta ardesiaca

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: #http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of _the_WP15.xls#.
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: #http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of _the_WP15.xls#.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Distribution

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km²)	24,500,000	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population and trend

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Number of mature individuals		poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	stable		suspected	-
Generation length (years)	6.6	-	-	-

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding
Angola	extant	native	yes
Benin	extant	native	yes
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Burkina Faso	extant	vagrant			yes
Burundi	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Cape Verde	extant	vagrant			yes
Chad	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native	yes
Eswatini	extant	vagrant			yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Gabon	extant	vagrant			yes
Gambia	extant	native	yes
Ghana	extant	native	yes
Guinea	extant	native	yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native	yes
Israel	extant	vagrant			yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Liberia	extant	native	yes
Madagascar	extant	native	yes
Malawi	extant	native	yes
Mali	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Namibia	extant	native	yes
Niger	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes
Oman	extant	vagrant			yes
Rwanda	extant	vagrant			yes
São Tomé e Príncipe	extant	vagrant			yes
Senegal	extant	native		yes
Sierra Leone	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native	yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes
South Sudan	extant	native		yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Togo	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes
Yemen	extant	vagrant			yes
Zambia	extant	native		yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Botswana	Okavango Delta
Cameroon	Logone flood-plain
Gambia	Islands of the Central River Division
Guinea-Bissau	Rio Mansôa and Gêba estuary
Madagascar	Bemamba Wetland Complex
Mali	Lac Débo - Lac Oualado Débo
Malawi	Lake Chilwa and flood-plain
Tanzania	Nyumba ya Mungu reservoir
Zambia	Kafue Flats
Zambia	Bangweulu Swamps

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Irrigated Land (includes irrigation channels)	suitable	resident
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Ponds (below 8ha)	suitable	resident
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Water Storage Areas (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded	suitable	resident
Marine Intertidal	Mud Flats and Salt Flats	suitable	resident
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes and Flats	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Human intrusions & disturbance

Work & other activities

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Majority (50-90%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Medium Impact: 6

Stresses
Species disturbance

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Egretta ardesiaca. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-heron-egretta-ardesiaca on 26/09/2023. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org on 26/09/2023.