Squacco Heron
Ardeola ralloides
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns (Ardeidae)
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
Overview
The squacco heron (Ardeola ralloides) is a small heron, 44–47 cm (17+1⁄2–18+1⁄2 in) long, of which the body is 20–23 cm (8–9 in), with 80–92 cm (31+1⁄2–36 in) wingspan. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Locally in southern Palearctic region, and Africa and Madagascar.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Countries
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Benin
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Hungary
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Malta
- Mauritania
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Oman
- Palestine
- Poland
- Republic of the Congo
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- Uzbekistan
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Squacco 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.
