Little heron
| Little heron | |
|---|---|
| Nominate subspecies, Kruger National Park, South Africa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Ardeidae |
| Genus: | Butorides |
| Species: | B. atricapilla |
| Binomial name | |
| Butorides atricapilla (Afzelius, 1804) | |
| Synonyms | |
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The little heron (Butorides atricapilla) is a small heron, about 44 cm tall. It is mostly sedentary and frequents both fresh and salt water habitats. It is found in the Old World tropics from west Africa to Japan and Australia. The little heron was formerly considered to be conspecific with the striated heron.