A small Australian heron that hides in reedbeds and rushes, waiting for prey in the water.
At about 30 cm and 85 g, it is Australia's smallest heron. Adult males have a black back, females a brown one; both have a dark crown, black tail and dark streaks down the belly.
It hides in dense reeds, rushes or similar wetland cover over water and waits to spear crustaceans, insects, fish and tadpoles.
It builds flimsy platforms of stems, fine twigs, bark, and other plant material. Both adults incubate the three or four eggs for 16–21 days. Young begin clambering on reeds around the nest at 9–14 days old.
Juveniles resemble females but have bold brown-black streaks over much of the body and rufous tips to most feathers.
In flight, males show a strong contrast between the dark back and primaries and buff upperwing coverts. The contrast is weaker in females and slight in juveniles.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.