The white-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) also known as the white-fronted heron, is a common bird throughout most of Australasia, including New Guinea, the islands of Torres Strait, Indonesia, New Zealand, and all but the driest areas of Australia.
It is a medium-sized heron, pale, slightly bluish-grey, with yellow legs and white facial markings. It can be found almost anywhere near shallow water, fresh or salt, and although it is prompt to depart the scene on long, slow-beating wings if disturbed, it will boldly raid suburban fish ponds.
Taxonomy
The white-faced heron was formally described in 1790 by the English ornithologist John Latham. He placed it with the herons in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea novaehollandiae. Latham based his account on the "white-fronted heron" that had been described and illustrated in 1789 by the first Governor of New South Wales Arthur Phillip in his book The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay.
It was historically considered to be closely related to Ardea but for some time it was placed in its own genus—Notophoyx—because of the absence of the plumes typical in that genus. Similarly, Swedish naturalist Kai Curry-Lindahl felt the species was a dwarf member of the genus Ardea. Robert B. Payne and Christopher J. Risley placed the white-faced heron in the genus Egretta due to its skeletal anatomy resembling egrets more than Ardea herons. They noted that Bock had not given reasons why he had placed the species in Ardea, and felt its closest relative was the little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) on account of plumage and skull similarities. Using DNA-DNA hybridization in a 1987 study, Frederick Sheldon confirmed the white-faced heron was a member of the egret clade.
Subspecies E. n. novaehollandiae and E. n. parryi in Australia, E. n. nana from New Caledonia and E. n. austera from Irian Jaya have previously been described, but are now not recognised taxonomically.
Description
thumb|right|Non-breeding plumage
The adult white-faced heron is medium-sized for the family and mostly pale blue-grey. The forehead, crown, chin and upper throat are white. The crown pattern is variable, with the white occasionally spreading down the neck; the variability makes identification of individuals possible.
The adult typically weighs and ranges from in height. and often have a reddish colour on the underparts. Chicks are typically covered with grey down. the Cocos Islands and the Solomon Islands. It is mostly a winter visitor to the Northern Territory. Breeding generally takes place in southern Australia, and birds disperse for long distances at other times of year. Both sexes share the task of building the nest, incubating the eggs and caring for the young. and their varied diet is fish, frogs, small reptiles and insects. It uses a variety of techniques to find food including standing still and waiting for prey movement (often employing a peculiarly rhythmic neck movement whether in water or on land), walking slowly in shallow water, wing flicking, foot raking or even chasing prey with open wings.