There are four subspecies of purple heron. We saw Ardea purpurea manilensis, found from the Indian subcontinent east to the Philippines and Indonesia and north to Primorsky Krai, Russia.
It has a black forehead and crown with a dark stripe that goes down the neck to a dangling crest. The sides of the head and neck are buffish chestnut with dark streaks and lines down either side of the neck. The beak is brownish/yellow and the iris is yellow.
The upperparts and tail are brownish gray. There are elongated feathers at the base of the neck streaked with white, chestnut and black. The chest is chestnut brown and the belly and undertail coverts are black.
The legs are brown in front and yellowish in back.
We saw several purple herons in Bundala National Park in southern Sri Lanka.
This is the avian version of a giraffe with huge feet. The neck is SO skinny! How does anything go down that gullet?
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