The Goliath Heron is also known as the giant heron and is a very large wading bird with a dagger like bill that stands up to 1.5 meters in height. The Goliath Heron is very aquatic and very seldom is found away from a water source. It even prefers to travel over water rather than over land without a source of water. They prefer pristine wet lands and generally avoid areas inhabited by humans.

They are solitary foragers and are highly territorial towards other Goliath Herons entering their territory. If seen together they are most likely a breeding pair. They are diurnal and often hunt in the shallows of waterways intently watching the water at their feet. They may also perch on floating vegetation to hunt for food. As prey appears they stab them with their open mandibles through the fishes body. They then swallow it whole. They often place their catch on floating vegetation in preparation to feed and occasionally will loose the catch to Fish Eagles or Saddle Billed Stork. Their prey almost exclusively consists of fish up to two pounds and they generally eat 3-4 fish a day. Breams, mullet, tilapia and carp are their preferred fish but they will also eat frogs, prawns, small mammals, lizards, snakes and even carrion.

The breeding season is at the beginning of the rainy season November to March. They prefer to nest on on various sedge, reeds, bushes. trees and even on rock ledges. The nests are a messy arrangement of twigs and vegetation measuring between 3 and 5 feet in diameter.

Incubation is about 30 days and chicks are fed through regurgitation. Only about 25% of the eggs manage to hatch. Chicks leave the nest at about 5 weeks of age.

Because of their formable size they do not have many predators.