Wild Bird Wednesday 58 - White Faced Heron

Dawn at Werribee, Victoria

White-Faced Herons are a common bird of the wetlands in my part of the world.  They are my 'default heron' - meaning its the one that I think of most often if I hear the word heron.

Park ponds, road-side drains, wet pastures, the coast and sewage farms are good places to find this bird.

The white-faced heron - Egretta novaehollandiae - is a bird that lives up to its name in many ways.  Most simply it has a white face, making it generally easy to identify.  "Novaehollandiae" comes from the old name for Australia - New Holland - and Australia is the base for this species.

But like many Australians it does not mind a bit a travel and since it was named it as established itself in New Zealand and has expended into Papua New Guinea.

Its a reliably active bird, being rather more mobile that some of its relatives.

Halls Gap, Grampians, Victoria

Point Lonsdale, Victoria, Australia

Point Lonsdale, Victoria, Australia

Magnetic Island, Queensland,  Australia

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