Squacco heron

The squacco heron is a carnivore and an aquatic predator, with a terrestrial foraging lifestyle. It lays one clutch per year of 4 eggs, which are incubated for 23 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Weight

285 g – 291 gsrc for Weight

Length

44 cm – 47 cmsrc for Length

Wingspan

86 cmsrc for Wingspan

Lifespan

5.83 yearssrc for Lifespan

Diet

Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

wetlandsrc for Habitat

Egg incubation

23 dayssrc for Egg incubation

Young per litter or clutch

3.7 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch

Litters or clutches a year

1src for Litters or clutches a year

Lifestyle

Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle

Migration

Migratorysrc for Migration

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The squacco heron is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

1. LCLeast Concern
2. NTNear Threatened
3. VUVulnerable
4. ENEndangered
5. CRCritically Endangered
6. EWExtinct in the Wild
7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classAves
4. orderPelecaniformes
5. familyArdeidae
6. genusArdeola
7. SpeciesArdeola ralloides (Scopoli, 1769)

Synonyms Ardea comata, Ardea ralloides, Ardeola ralloides paludivaga, Ardeola ralloides ralloides, Buphus illyricus

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

LC, Least Concern

Indian pond heron

Ardeola grayii

Ardeidae

LC, Least Concern

Chinese pond heron

Ardeola bacchus

Ardeidae

LC, Least Concern

Javan pond heron

Ardeola speciosa

Ardeidae

EN, Endangered

Malagasy pond heron

Ardeola idae

Ardeidae

LC, Least Concern

Rufous-bellied heron

Ardeola rufiventris

Ardeidae

CompareSquacco heron vs Indian pond heronSquacco heron vs Chinese pond heronSquacco heron vs Javan pond heronSquacco heron vs Malagasy pond heron

• An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
  Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
• AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
  Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
• Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
  Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
• Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
  Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
• Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
• Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

@misc{squacco_heron_2026,
  title = {Squacco heron (Ardeola ralloides)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/squacco-heron},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}