The Story
I photographed this Striated Heron (Butorides striata) at Playa El Diablo, near La Macarena, Meta, Colombia, in February 2021. It was once treated as the same species as the Little Heron, which ranges across the Old World tropics east to Japan and Australia. Its nest is a platform of sticks about 40 to 50 centimeters across, with a shallow dip in the middle. One adult on its nest was seen grabbing a stick and moving its head rapidly back and forth, like a sewing machine needle. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/350 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, −1.5 EV. Visits to Caño Cristales, the Mirador Cristalitos and the Raudal de Angosturas in La Macarena National Park are arranged through authorized local operators.
©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