A chick hatching (Syrigma sibilatrix) was rescued after being found on the ground, in the municipality of Ivinhema, in Mato Grosso do Sul. The bird was taken to the city’s Military Fire Brigade (CBM) headquarters after it was found by a resident.
The CBM told the Military Environmental Police (PMA) that the resident found the puppy last Saturday (10) near the house. Still according to firefighters, the man said the bird would have fallen out of the nest, and that the parents had not returned to feed it. The chick could not fly.
According to the PMA, the specimen was a heron species (ardea cinerea). However, the ((o)) echo, experts said it was a maria faceira.
“It’s Maria-Faceira […] the heron has a darker iris and lacks a black bill tip. In any case, the heron that occurs here would be the neotropical heron (Philerodius pileatus)”, explains ornithologist Guilherme Brito, from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC).
“Even as a puppy it is easy to identify by the two-tone bill with a pink base, the area around the gray eye. In addition to the details, the European Moorish heron is a much larger animal”, adds biologist Luciano Lima.
The animal was collected by the PMA and still needs to be sent to the Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center (CRAS), which is located in Campo Grande. The animal will be reintroduced into its natural habitat where possible, the police institution said.
About maria-faceira
THE mary-faceira measures between 53 and 64 centimeters. In Brazil, it is the only heron with this color pattern. Still according to Wikiaves, the popular name is linked to the colors of the bird’s head: bright light blue face, dark gray or black crown, which is followed by long, curved and sturdy decorative feathers, with yellow or white tips. The bill of the marigold is long and thin, pink in color and with a blue-violet spot at the tip. The plumage of the throat, neck and chest is yellowish. Its range ranges from Venezuela and Colombia to Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina.
*ERRAMOS (Updated at 20:44): Contrary to what was reported earlier in the article, the bird found is an example of the White-tailed Heron (Syrigma sibilatrix) and not the Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea), like the PMA . informed.