Purple heron

    Ardea purpurea

Castilian: Garza imperial

Catalan: Agró roig

Gallego: Garza vermella

Euskera: Lertxun gorria

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Ciconiiformes

Family: Ardeidae

Migratory status: Summer resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Least Concern”.

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THREATS

Any disturbance in its surroundings (dredging, canal building, periodic burning of aquatic vegetation), drought in wintering areas, and the use of pesticides are some of the problems it faces.

Length / size: 70-90 cm / 110-145 cm

Identification: Slender bird with brown and grey tones, whose head has two dark feathers coming out of it and whose neck has vertical black and white bands that extend downward. In flight it maintains its neck tucked in the the shape of an “S” and its legs outstretched.

Song: It makes a hoarse sound similar to a frog's croaking, "aarrt".

Diet: It mostly feeds on medium-sized fish, such as perches or eels, which it complements with amphibians, insects, and micromammals which it catches while waiting hidden among reeds. In some cases, it may also feed on the chicks of other aquatic birds, such as ducks.

Reproduction: Although it is a colonial species, the groups are small and normally monospecific. They build the nest above water, hidden in the reeds. Incubation is performed by both and the chicks, 10 days after hatching, leave the nest.

HABITAT

It occupies wet areas with shallow waters, either freshwater or saltwater, and with a considerable amount of vegetation to feed on; however, during breeding season it prefers reed beds or cat's-tail beds.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: The most important breeding populations are distributed throughout the Ebro Delta, the marshes of the Guadalquivir, the Valencia lagoon and the river valleys of the large Rivers Ebro and Guadalquivir and, to a lesser extent, those of the Rivers Tajo and Guadiana. Other less significant concentrations are in Madrid, Castile-La Mancha, Castile and León, Extremadura, Murcia, Cantabria, and other points along the Andalusian coastline.

In Castile and León: It breeds regularly in one of the wetlands of the Castile Canal (Palencia) and in the San José swamp of the River Duero (Valladolid). During migration, it can be seen throughout all of the provinces.

Movements and migrations: They leave their breeding areas between August and October and return in April/May, even though the migrations crossing the Strait of Gibraltar are not very abundant, although there is a certain level of flow along the Galician coasts. The Iberian populations winter in sub-Saharan Africa.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 2000 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: