Ardea goliath
Silhouette: Kai Caspar · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Goliath heron (Ardea goliath), also known as the giant heron, is a very large wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. It is primarily found in sub-Saharan Africa, with smaller, declining numbers in Southwest and South Asia. Asian records are now very rare, but it does still known as an occasional vagrant.
It is the world's largest living heron, though the extinct Bennu heron may have been larger. The height of the goliath heron is 120–152 cm (3 ft 11 in – 5 ft 0 in), the wingspan is 185–230 cm (6 ft 1 in – 7 ft 7 in), and the weight is 4–5 kg (8.8–11.0 lb). The tarsus measures from 21.2 to 25.5 cm (8.3 to 10.0 in) and the wing chord averages around 60.7 cm (23.9 in) in length. The culmen measures from 18 to 20 cm (7.1 to 7.9 in), while the bill from the gape measures around 24 cm (9.4 in). In flight it has a slow and rather ponderous look and, unlike some other herons, its legs are not held horizontally. Males and females look similar, with an overall covering of slate-grey and chestnut feathers. The head and its bushy crest, face, back, and sides of the neck are chestnut. The chin, throat, fore neck, and upper breast are white, with black streaks across the... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazzaville | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 2 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 6 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 2 | Réserve africaine de Sigean | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Walsrode World Bird Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Al Ain Zoo | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 7 | Vogelpark Niendorf | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Goliath Heron sighting in Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, based on 214 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 97th most-seen of the 369 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–April and November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Goliath Heron in Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January, June, August and October, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Goliath Heron sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
16th of 35
Of the 35 parks where we can rate Goliath Heron sightings, Lake Nakuru National Park ranks 16th at about 20%. The best odds are in Lower Zambezi National Park (Zambia, about 50%), Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 50%) and Amboseli National Park (Kenya, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Ardea
The closest relatives of the Goliath Heron that you can see in Lake Nakuru National Park (genus Ardea, Great Herons and Egrets) are Grey Heron (about 70%), Great Egret (about 40%) and Black-headed Heron (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Goliath Heron is recorded against all the birds logged in Lake Nakuru National Park (214 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
