Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Tigrisoma mexicanum

Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Tigrisoma mexicanum. Photograph taken in the greater Yal-Ku area, Quintana Roo, April 2017, Photographs courtesy of Juan Rojo, Akumal.

Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Tigrisoma mexicanum. Photograph taken in the greater Alamos area, Sonora, March 20197. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

The Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Tigrisoma mexicanum, is a member of the Ardeidae Family of Herons, Egrets and Bitterns. They are large in stature. In Mexico they are found in the coastal regions within the Atlantic Slope from Southern Tamaulipas south to Belize, including the Yucatán Peninsula, and within the Pacific Slope from Southern Sinaloa south to Guatemala at elevations up to 1,000 m (3,300 feet).  They are found in the coastal zones with brackish and saltwater environments including mangroves. They are also found inland in marshes and swamps in the tropical zones and on freshwater rivers and streams at higher elevations. They feed as solitary individuals at night consuming crustaceans, frogs, fish and insects.

From a conservation perspective, the Bare-throated Tiger Heron is categorized by the IUCN as Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations.