Goliath Heron
Ardea goliath
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns (Ardeidae)
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
Overview
The Goliath heron (Ardea goliath), also known as the giant heron, is a very large wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. It is primarily found in sub-Saharan Africa, with smaller, declining numbers in Southwest and South Asia. Asian records are now very rare, but it does still known as an occasional vagrant.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Locally in Africa, Iraq, and Iran; casual to India and Sri Lanka.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Countries
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Iran
- Iraq
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Goliath heron
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
