Warbla · Library
Black-headed Heron
Ardea melanocephala · Family Ardeidae
Ardea melanocephala
Family Ardeidae
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Ardeidae
- GBIF occurrence records
- 333,170
- Countries and territories with records
- 55
About this species
This species has 333,170 occurrence records from 55 countries and territories (GBIF, 21 October 2026). Most records come from South Africa (72.7%), Kenya (8.7%), Tanzania (4.4%), Uganda (3.7%) and Zimbabwe (1.7%); together they account for 91.2% of the total. In South Africa, this species accounts for 0.61% of all bird records in GBIF.
The scientific name Ardea melanocephala combines the genus name Ardea with the species epithet melanocephala. The Warbla app catalog lists 11 species of the genus Ardea; apart from this one, those with the most GBIF records are Ardea herodias, Ardea alba and Ardea cinerea.
The catalog has GBIF record counts for 48 species of the family Ardeidae. This species ranks 20th among them; the family’s most-recorded species is Ardea herodias. Its record count is 23.8% of the family average (1,400,081). The family Ardeidae belongs to the order Pelecaniformes, which has 92 species in the Warbla app catalog.