From a few strongholds in the 19th century, herons and egrets spread across the Algerian coastal strip of North Africa and colonised the Algerian Hauts Plateaux in the second half of the 20th century. Here we report the first breeding of Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides and Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax in a mixed colony at Kef Doukhane, an artificial wetland near Ghardaïa in the northern Sahara. We recorded nine Squacco Heron nests with 37 eggs, with clutch sizes ranging from 1 to 5 eggs (mean = 4.1 + 1.3; N = 9), and three Black-crowned Night-Heron clutches with 3 eggs each. After the first three Squacco Heron clutches hatched, all other nests were wantonly plundered by children in search of eggs and the entire colony was abandoned. The expansion of artificial wetlands in the Sahara and possibly climate change have facilitated the successful colonisation of the Sahara Desert by herons and egrets, but human disturbance and vandalism due to economic hardship and lack of environmental education are currently the major obstacles to range expansion.

从 19 世纪的几个据点，苍鹭和白鹭遍布北非的阿尔及利亚沿海地带，并在 20 世纪下半叶定居在阿尔及利亚的豪斯高原。在这里，我们报告了 Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides和黑冠夜鹭Nycticorax nycticorax的首次繁殖在 Kef Doukhane 的混合栖息地，这是撒哈拉北部 Ghardaïa 附近的人工湿地。我们记录了 9 个带 37 个卵的 Squacco Heron 巢，窝的大小从 1 到 5 个不等（平均值 = 4.1 + 1.3；N = 9），以及三个黑冠夜鹭窝，每个窝有 3 个卵。在前三窝 Squacco Heron 孵化后，所有其他巢穴都被孩子们肆意掠夺以寻找卵，整个殖民地被遗弃。撒哈拉人工湿地的扩张以及可能的气候变化促进了苍鹭和白鹭在撒哈拉沙漠的成功殖民，但由于经济困难和缺乏环境教育而造成的人为干扰和破坏行为目前是范围扩张的主要障碍。