Hi all
thanks to those who offered opinions and comments on the
unusual Top End herons. We are still not sure what they are. There
was some consensus that the adult had something of Striated
Heron about it, or as one northern hemisphere heron expert said,
'has some Butorides genes'. However, it is far from conclusive, and
I'll leave the images online and spread the request a little further for
a little longer. I've tabulated the descriptions of the other
'adult' herons and it is available as a pdf file on my website
(http://www.users.bigpond.com/birdsnt).
As for the immature birds, there is no resolution on them either. It
is of interest that when these immatures have been seen, there
have been no immature Pied Herons around for comparison. The
sightings have been at a time prior to the coastal influx of young
herons from their breeding area. At this stage nothing actually
precludes their being 'ordinary' juvenile Pied Herons in a "non-
ordinary" plumage. They may be something else, though proving
that will be difficult.
BUT I certainly will not be approaching the museum re collecting
specimens, and am very glad "they were not particularly
interested" in taking specimens when approached about it in the
past. But that's another topic.
I'll pass on any new insights that come my way, and hopefully
there'll be a resolution one day.
Happy Birding
Niven
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