#0816 · 🐦 birds
Squacco Heron
🇳🇱 Ralreiger ·Ardeola ralloides
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Ian White · CC BY-ND 4.0
- 2. © josefwirth · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © jjulio2000 · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © afeather · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © josefwirth · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Heinrich Human · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Ximo Galarza · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 8. © Luca Boscain · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Charles J Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 10. © igor_voinov · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
1 in), with 80–92 cm (31–36 in) wingspan. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 19 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 13,138 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Weighs only about 288 g.
- Scientifically named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1769 (257 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Squacco Heron
- Nederlands
- Ralreiger
- scientific name
- Ardeola ralloides
- class
- Aves
- order
- Pelecaniformes
- family
- Ardeidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 19
- sightings in Europe
- 6,683
- sightings worldwide
- 13,138
- GBIF records in NL
- 6,874
- weight
- 288 g
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1769 by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Ardeidae
#0534 📷 7Grey Heron
🇳🇱 Blauwe Reiger
Ardea cinerea
LC 👀 7.5k in NL
#0568 📷 10Great Egret
🇳🇱 Grote zilverreiger
Ardea alba
LC 👀 2k in NL
#0612 📷 9Little Egret
🇳🇱 Kleine Zilverreiger
Egretta garzetta
LC 👀 634 in NL
#0675 📷 8Purple Heron
🇳🇱 Purperreiger
Ardea purpurea
LC 👀 215 in NL
#0701 📷 10Western Cattle-Egret
🇳🇱 Koereiger
Ardea ibis
LC 👀 155 in NL
#0703 📷 7Eurasian Bittern
🇳🇱 Roerdomp
Botaurus stellaris
LC 👀 153 in NL
#0711 📷 8Black-crowned Night Heron
🇳🇱 Kwak
Nycticorax nycticorax
LC 👀 137 in NL
#0804 📷 9Little Bittern
🇳🇱 Woudaap
Botaurus minutus
LC 👀 23 in NL
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 4994, Wikidata Q191394, GBIF 2480906, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.