• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Climate Change maps
• Reference and further resources

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.
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. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
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

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

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

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	16700-66700 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2023
Population trend	increasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	4.8 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size is estimated at 25,000-100,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2023), which equates to 16,700-66,700 mature individuals. The overall population trend is suspected to be increasing over three generations (14.4 years) (Wetlands International 2023).

Trend justification:   .

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
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

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
Malawi	Lake Chilwa and flood-plain
Mali	Lac Débo - Lac Oualado Débo
Tanzania	Nyumba ya Mungu reservoir
Zambia	Bangweulu Swamps
Zambia	Kafue Flats

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 - 1700 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

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

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black Heron Egretta ardesiaca. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-heron-egretta-ardesiaca on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.