Grey Heron

The grey heron, found in Europe, Asia and much of Africa, is ash-grey above, grey-white below and has some black on the flanks. Adults have a white head with a black supercilium (line) that terminates in the dangling crest, and bluish streaks on the front of the neck. It has a long, straight bill that is pinkish-yellow, a yellow iris and brown legs. 

Grey heron in the Okavanga Delta.

There are four subspecies. We saw the subspecies (Ardea cinerea cinerea, the nominate subspecies) found in Europe, Africa and Asia. Other subspecies are found in eastern Asia, Madagascar and the islands off Mauritania. 

This grey heron is flanked by two African openbill storks (the black birds). 

It is closely related to the North American great blue heron which is larger and has chestnut-brown flanks and thighs. 

We saw them several times on our trip, but my pictures are from the Okavanga Delta of Botswana, when we were traveling down a river on a boat.