Garza Capirotada

Identificación

This species is very distinct from other herons, being the only one with a blue beak and face, and a black crown. The belly, chest, and neck are covered with yellowish-white or light-cream feathers. The wings and back are covered with white feathers. Three to four white long feathers extend from the black crown. No sexual dimorphism in color or brightness has been noted.<p>The body length of an adult varies between 510 and 590 mm, the wing chords between 263 and 280 mm, the tail between 95 and 103 mm, and the tarsus between 92 and 99 mm. The weight of an adult varies between 444 and 632 g.<p>The juveniles are very similar to the adults. They only differ in body length and that the white feathers are slightly grey.

Taxonomía

The capped heron was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Ardea pileata in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The capped heron is now the only species placed in the genus Pilherodius that was erected by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek πιλος pilos "cap" and ερωδιος erōdios meaning "heron". The specific epithet pileatus is Latin for "capped".<p>A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2023 found that the capped heron is sister to the whistling heron (Syrigma sibilatrix).

Nombre científico

Pilherodius pileatus

Autoridad

(Boddaert, 1783)

Orden

Pelecaniformes

Familia

Ardeidae

Género

Pilherodius

Distribución y hábitat

The capped heron is endemic to the neotropics and almost exclusive to rainforest. It is present in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. It inhabits low lands up to 900 m above sea level, though in Venezuela it is only found below 500 m, and in Ecuador below 400 m. Although there are no migrations registered to this species and it is believed that is sedentary, there may be seasonal movements in Darien, Panama.<p>It normally inhabits swamps and ditches in wet grasslands or rainforests. Sometimes it can venture into deeper ponds and rivers. It prefers to forage on the shore or in floating vegetation, but has also been observed in trenches of coffee plantations and flooded rice fields.

Migración

Especie residente

Comportamiento

Patrón migratorio: Especie residente.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional: en declive.

Tendencia poblacional

en declive