A single adult Striated Heron using a Helipad anchor chain as a fishing platform on the Esplanade in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.


Adults have a blue-grey back and wings, white underparts, a black cap, a dark line extends from the bill to under the eye and short yellow legs. Juveniles are browner above and streaked below. These birds stand still at the water's edge and wait to ambush prey, but are easier to see than many small heron species. They mainly eat small fish, frogs and aquatic insects. They sometimes use bait, dropping a feather or leaf carefully on the water surface and picking fish that come to investigate.


Size: 4438px × 6657px
Location: Esplanade, Far North Queensland, Australia
Photo credit: © Photography By Marco / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ambush, attraction, australia, australian, balanced, bird, birders, birds, bittern, butorides, cairns, camouflkaged, catch, cautious, deadly, destination, esplanade, fish, focused, habitat, heron, hunter, hunting, mangrove, native, nature, north, opportunistic, paradise, people, persistent, photographers, predation, predator, prey, queensland, shorebird, silent, spearfishing, stealth, stealthy, striata, timid, tourist, travel, tropical, tropics, wild, wildlife