The Story
I photographed this Striated Heron (Butorides striata) at La Charca de Guarinocito in La Dorada, Caldas, Colombia. The Striated Heron sometimes uses bait, dropping a feather or leaf on the water and catching the fish that come to look. Its nest is a platform of sticks, and the two to five eggs are pale blue. It is mostly a lowland bird of marshes, lakes and rivers. The Charca de Guarinocito is an old channel of the Magdalena in La Dorada, protected since 1988 and now delimited by Corpocaldas at 167 hectares. IUCN lists the Striated Heron as Least Concern, with a stable population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200. In 2025 Corpocaldas zoned the charca for preservation, restoration and sustainable use, recognizing its role in community tourism and artisanal fishing.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Striated Heron (Butorides striata) belongs to the family Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2022), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
