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Adult
at Concordia, St. John, 25 May 2003. Photos © by Floyd Hayes. First
record for the Virgin Islands and Greater Antilles and second record for the
West Indies. Note the solid neck colouration (appears darker in shade),
long back plumes, and lack of spotting on wing coverts, which are
indicative of an adult. The grey sides and rear of the neck with a
slight rufous tinge on the face is diagnostic for Striated Heron; in
contrast, the locally breeding Green Heron has a rufous neck. The neck
colouration of this individual was scored as 2 on Payne's hybrid index
of 1-9, well within the range of variation of Striated Heron (1-4) and
below the range of variation in Green Heron (6-9); for further
information on identification,click here. The only previous West Indian record is a specimen taken from St. Vincent in 1924 (click here).
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