Chinese Pond Heron

How to identify

Field marks

1. White wings; brown streaks on the body in winter plumage
2. Chestnut head, neck and breast; purplish-black back in breeding plumage
3. Paler chestnut head, neck and breast with rufous-yellow streaks in winter plumage
4. Yellow bill with a black tip; golden-yellow iris

Male, female and young

The sexes have the same plumage, but the female is slightly smaller; birds in winter plumage and immatures have paler heads, necks and breasts and lack a long crest.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: April · Most records: China, Thailand, Cambodia

Chinese Pond Heron has been recorded at 1,545 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 23 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Mai Po Nature ReserveHong Kong (China)4,257 records
2. Long ValleyHong Kong (China)2,036 records
3. San TinHong Kong (China)1,258 records

Countries and regions with the most records

ChinaThailandCambodiaVietnamLaosSingaporeSouth KoreaMalaysia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

Questions