---
title: "Indian Pond-Heron"
description: "Ardeola grayii — Birds. The Indian pond heron or paddybird (Ardeola grayii) is a small heron."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/indian-pond-heron
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Indian Pond-Heron

> Ardeola grayii — Birds. The Indian pond heron or paddybird (Ardeola grayii) is a small heron.

- Scientific name: *Ardeola grayii*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 15588
- Wikidata: [Q498428](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q498428)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4993](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4993)

## Names

- en: Indian Pond-Heron
- de: Paddyreiher
- es: Garcilla india
- fr: Crabier de Gray
- nl: Indische ralreiger
- pt: Papa-ratos-indiano
- pl: Czapla siodłata

## Countries with the most observations

IN (11890), LK (1557), NP (213), BD (155), TH (142), PK (95), MV (56), OM (47), MM (42), SG (36), AE (31), BT (16)

## Summary

The Indian pond heron or paddybird (Ardeola grayii) is a small heron. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Iran and east to the Indian subcontinent, Burma, and Sri Lanka. They are widespread and common but can be easily missed when they stalk prey at the edge of small water-bodies or even when they roost close to human habitations.
They are distinctive when they take off, with bright white wings flashing in contrast to the cryptic streaked olive and brown colours of the body. Their camouflage is so excellent that they can be approached closely before they take to flight, a behaviour which has resulted…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_pond_heron

## Photo

![Indian Pond-Heron](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/indian-pond-heron/medium.jpg)

Photo: Vijay Barve · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/347466289

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/indian-pond-heron?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).