Short, thick-set heron with stout black bill; adult has black crown, mantle, scapulars; short white supercilium and forehead; white to pale grey underparts;  pearl grey wings; two long, white, nape plumes when breeding; large, ruby red eyes; in flight, broad, rounded, grey wings, with dark back and short, thick neck diagnostic; juvenile brown, streaked and spotted buff-white above, buff, streaked with brown below; solitary or in scattered flocks when feeding; communal diurnal rooster and breeder; often near habitation; crepuscular and nocturnal.