This egret forages mainly in shallow wetlands of northern Botswana. Adults are blue-grey, though they can look black in poor light.
Adults are pale blue-grey, with a reddish-brown chin, throat, and foreneck. The eyes are pale yellow and the legs range from dull grey-yellow to yellow-green.
It forages in shallow vegetated wetlands, often as water levels recede. Recorded prey include young fish, amphibians, and aquatic invertebrates. It may move between wetlands seasonally in response to rain, though movements are poorly understood.
It builds nests of sticks or reeds in bush thickets or tall reedbeds, breeding in small colonies. Clutches contain two to four eggs, usually three.
Immatures are pale slate-grey, with a buff-pink to pink-brown upper throat and breast. They lack a crest and have grey-green legs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.