biology

Zigzag heron

Zigzag heron is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Zigzag heron rather than just read about it. In short: The zigzag heron (Zebrilus undulatus) is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae, also including egrets and bitterns. It is in the monotypic genus Zebrilus.

Key takeaways

Zigzag heron belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Zigzag heron to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Zigzag heron from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The zigzag heron (Zebrilus undulatus) is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae, also including egrets and bitterns. It is in the monotypic genus Zebrilus. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps.

Taxonomy The zigzag heron was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the herons, cranes, storks and bitterns in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea undulata. Gmelin based his description on the zigzig bittern from Cayenne that had been described by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham had in turn based his account on "Le petit butor de Cayenne" that had been described and illustrated in Comte de Buffon's Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The zigzag heron is the only species placed in the genus Zebrilus that was introduced in 1855 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The genus name Zebrilus is a diminutive of the French zèbre meaning "zebra". The specific epithet undulatus is Latin meaning "furnished with wave-like markings". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

Description The adult plumage is gray with fine zigzag barring, with a pale underside, standing about 32 centimetres (12+1⁄2 inches) in height. Juveniles have a dark back with a brown head and underside. Due to its appearance it was often assigned to the tiger herons (Tigrisoma and allies). But in fact, it is a true bittern, having like these only 10 rectrices (other Ardeidae have 12) and being unequivocally placed in the bittern lineage by DNA sequence data too. Short legs and necks and cryptic plumage may thus be plesiomorphic among Ardeidae in general.

Distribution and habitat The zigzag heron is a species of the entire Amazon Basin, east of the Andes cordillera, and the five bordering countries on the basin's western periphery, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The range does not extend beyond the Orinoco River basin of Venezuela in the northwest, and in the east-northeast encompasses the Guianas; in the southeast Amazon Basin the range does not extend east of the Tapajós River drainage.

Behaviour They are reclusive birds, staying hidden in thick cover even while foraging.

References

External links Media related to Zebrilus undulatus at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Zigzag heron at Wikispecies

Zigzag heron videos on the Internet Bird Collection Zigzag heron photo gallery Archived 2019-01-21 at the Wayback Machine VIREO Photo-high res Archived 2019-01-21 at the Wayback Machine Photo-high res PhotoArticle - sunbirdtours

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Zigzag heron

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Zigzag heron claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Zigzag heron before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Zigzag heron ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Zigzag heron

In research: Zigzag heron appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Zigzag heron in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Zigzag heron is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ardeidae, Birds described in 1789, Birds of Brazil, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Zigzag heron outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Zigzag heron in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Zigzag heron means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Zigzag heron out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zigzag heron in simple terms?

The zigzag heron (Zebrilus undulatus) is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae, also including egrets and bitterns. It is in the monotypic genus Zebrilus.

Why does Zigzag heron matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Zigzag heron?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Zigzag heron.