It is the spring of 1943, and the immense Blockhaus near Watten is nearly complete. The Axis have geared up production on the V-2 rocket but continue to fire them from a remote launch site. The Allies must destroy t
The herons are wading
birds in the Ardeidae family. Some are called
egrets or
bitterns instead of herons.
Within the family, all members of the genera Botaurus
and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns,
and—including the
Zigzag Heron or Zigzag Bittern—are a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. However, egrets
are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, and
tend to be named differently because they are mainly white
or have decorative plumes.
The classification of the individual heron/egret species
is fraught with difficulty, and there is still no clear
consensus about the correct placement of many species into
either of the two major genera, Ardea and Egretta.
Similarly, the relationship of the genera in the family is
not completely resolved. For example, the Boat-billed Heron
is sometimes classed as a heron, and sometimes given its own
family Cochlearidae, but nowadays it is usually retained in the Ardeidae.
Although herons resemble birds in some other families,
such as the
storks,
ibises and
spoonbills, they differ from these in flying with their
necks retracted, not outstretched.
The members of this family are all primarily associated
with wetlands, and prey on fish, frogs and other aquatic
species. Some, like the
Cattle Egret, also take large insects, and are less tied
to watery environments. Some members of this group nest
colonially in trees, others, notably the bitterns, use
reedbeds.
In February
2005, the Canadian scientist Dr. Louis Lefebvre announced a
method of measuring avian IQ in terms of their innovation in feeding habits. Herons were
named among the most intelligent birds based on this scale,
reflecting a wide variety, flexibility and adaptiveness to
acquire food.
Analyses of the skeleton, mainly the skull, suggested
that the Ardeidae could be split into a diurnal and a
crepuscular/nocturnal group which included the bitterns.
From DNA studies and skeletal analyses focusing more on
bones of body and limbs, this grouping has been revealed as
incorrect (McCracken & Sheldon, 1998). Rather, the
similarities in skull morphology reflect convergent
evolution to cope with the different
challenges of daytime and nighttime feeding. Today, it is
believed that three major groups can be distinguished
(Sheldon et al., 2000), which are (from the most
primitive to the most advanced):
Little Bittern, Ixobrychus minutus
New Zealand Little Bittern, Ixobrychus
novaezelandiae (extinct)
Cinnamon Bittern, Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
Stripe-backed Bittern, Ixobrychus involucris
Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis
Yellow Bittern, Ixobrychus sinensis
Schrenck's Bittern, Ixobrychus eurhythmus
Dwarf Bittern, Ixobrychus sturmii
Black Bittern, Ixobrychus flavicollis
Genus
Botaurus
American Bittern, Botaurus lentiginosa.
Great Bittern or European Bittern, Botaurus
stellaris
South American Bittern, Botaurus pinnatus
Australasian Bittern, Botaurus poiciloptilus
Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax violaceus
or Nyctanassa violacea
Bermuda Night Neron, Nycticorax carcinocatactes or
Nyctanassa carcinocatactes (extinct)
Black-crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
White-backed Night Heron, Nycticorax leuconotus or
Gorsachius leuconotus
Rodrigues Night Heron, Nycticorax megacephalus
(extinct)
Réunion Night Heron, Nycticorax duboisi (extinct)
Mauritius Night Heron, Nycticorax mauritianus
(extinct)
Ascension Night Heron, Nycticorax olsoni (extinct)
Genus
Gorsachius
Nankeen Night Heron or Rufous Night Heron,
Gorsachius caledonicus or Nycticorax caledonicus
White-eared Night Heron, Gorsachius magnificus
Japanese Night Heron, Gorsachius goisagi
Malayan Night Heron, Gorsachius melanolophus
Genus
Butorides
Green Heron or Green-backed Heron, Butorides
virescens
Striated Heron, Butorides striatus or Ardea striatus
Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea
Goliath Heron, Ardea goliath
Cocoi Heron, Ardea cocoi
White-necked Heron or Pacific Heron, Ardea pacifica
Black-headed Heron, Ardea melanocephala
Madagascar Heron, Ardea humbloti
White-bellied Heron, Ardea insignis
Great-billed Heron, Ardea sumatrana
Purple Heron, Ardea purpurea
Great Egret or Great White Egret, Ardea alba
Pied Heron, Ardea picata or Egretta picata
Intermediate Egret, Ardea intermedia or Egretta
intermedia
Swinhoe's Egret or Chinese Egret, Ardea eulophotes
or Egretta eulophotes
Genus
Syrigma
Whistling Heron, Syrigma sibilatrix
Genus
Egretta
Little Egret, Egretta garzetta or Ardea garzetta
Snowy Egret, Egretta thula
Reddish Egret, Egretta rufescens
Slaty Egret, Egretta vinaceigula
Black Heron, Egretta ardesiaca
Tricolored Heron or Louisiana Heron, Egretta
tricolor
Tricolored Heron or Louisiana Heron,
Egretta tricolor
White-faced Heron, Egretta novaehollandiae or
Ardea novaehollandiae
Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea
Eastern Reef Egret, Egretta sacra or Ardea sacra
Western Reef Heron, Egretta gularis
Genus undetermined
Easter Island Heron, Ardeidae gen. et sp. indet.
(prehistoric)
Other prehistoric and fossil species are included in the
respective genus accounts.
The night herons could warrant separation as subfamily
Nycticoracinae, as it was traditionally done. However,
the position of some genera (e.g. Butorides or
Syrigma) is unclear at the moment, and molecular studies
have until now suffered from a small number of studied taxa.
Especially the relationship among the ardeidine subfamily is
very badly resolved. The arrangement presented here should
be considered provisional.
References
McCracken, Kevin G. & Sheldon, Frederick H. (1998):
Molecular and osteological heron phylogenies: sources of
incongruence.
Auk (journal)115: 127–141.
PDF fulltext
Sheldon, Frederick H.; Jones, Clare E. & McCracken,
Kevin G. (2000): Relative Patterns and Rates of
Evolution in Heron Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA.
Molecular Biology and Evolution17(3):
437–450.
PDF fulltext
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