Whistling Heron (Syrigma sibilatrix)

Identification & Behavior: ~54 cm (21.2 in).  The adult Whistling Heron has a buffy neck and breast. The upperparts are gray with blackish streaks on the folded wings. The bill is pink with a black tip. It has bare blue skin on the face and gray cap. The legs are dark. Both sexes look alike. It favors tall dry grass, in pastures, damp grass, wet savannas, and flooded fields. It does not resemble any other herons other than a bicolored bill in the Little Blue Heron.

Status: The Whistling Heron has been added to the list of Peru Birds in 2019 based on an individual photographed on the Peruvian side of the Putumayo River, near Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia.  It also occurs in Co, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Garza Silvadora

Sub-species: Whistling Heron (Syrigma sibilatrix fostersmithi), Temminck 1824.  Distribution E Colombia (NE from Meta) and N and C Venezuela (E to Monagas).

Meaning of Name: Syrigma: G. surigma, surizö= whistler, whistle; sibilatrix, sibilare= whistle.

See more of the Family Ardeidae