Behaviour This species is an intra-African migrant, its movements related to changes in water level due to seasonal rainfall (del Hoyo et al. 1992). The breeding season is geographically variable but generally coincides with the rains (although the species may also breed early in the dry season) (Kushlan and Hancock 2005). It breeds solitarily or in small groups of a few dozen pairs, and hunts nocturnally alone or in pairs, sometimes also hunting by day if conditions are cloudy (del Hoyo et al. 1992). Habitat It uses a variety of habitats, but shows a preference for thickets and forests characterised by fluctuating water levels (Kushlan and Hancock 2005). It frequents the margins of freshwater rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, ponds and pools overhung with dense foliage (Kushlan and Hancock 2005), marshes with grasses or reeds, seasonally flooded areas, mangroves (Hancock and Kushlan 1984, del Hoyo et al. 1992), rice-fields, and open grassy swamps with bulrushes or papyrus (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Kushlan and Hancock 2005). Diet Its diet consists predominantly of grasshoppers and frogs, but it will also take water beetles, small fish, crabs, spiders and snails (Hancock and Kushlan 1984, del Hoyo et al. 1992, Kushlan and Hancock 2005). Breeding site The nest is a stick platform positioned 0.5-4 m high (Kushlan and Hancock 2005) on horizontal or hanging branches of trees and bushes (del Hoyo et al. 1992) that overhang water or stand in flooded areas (Hancock and Kushlan 1984).