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The night herons are medium-sized heron
Heron

The herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons.Within the family, all members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and - including the Zigzag Heron or Zigzag Bittern - are a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae....
s in the genera Nycticorax and Gorsachius. The genus name Nycticorax derives from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 for “night raven” and refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s, and the croaking crow-like
Crow

The true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small dove-sized jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several offsh...
 call of the best known species, the Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron

The Black-crowned Night Heron , is a medium-sized heron....
. These herons are migratory
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
 outside the tropical parts of their ranges.

In Europe, Night Heron is often used to refer to the Black-crowned Night Heron, since it is the only member of the genus in that continent.

Adults are short-necked and stout herons; they typically have a dark crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, and short legs.






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The night herons are medium-sized heron
Heron

The herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons.Within the family, all members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and - including the Zigzag Heron or Zigzag Bittern - are a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae....
s in the genera Nycticorax and Gorsachius. The genus name Nycticorax derives from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 for “night raven” and refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s, and the croaking crow-like
Crow

The true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small dove-sized jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several offsh...
 call of the best known species, the Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron

The Black-crowned Night Heron , is a medium-sized heron....
. These herons are migratory
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
 outside the tropical parts of their ranges.

In Europe, Night Heron is often used to refer to the Black-crowned Night Heron, since it is the only member of the genus in that continent.

Black Crowned Night Heron Baby
Adults are short-necked and stout herons; they typically have a dark crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, and short legs. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey, and are quite similar in the extant Nycticorax species. At least some of the extinct Mascarenes taxa appear to have retained this juvenile plumage in adult birds.

Night herons nest in colonies on platforms of sticks in a group of trees, or on the ground in protected locations such as islands or reedbeds. 3-8 egg
Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
s are laid.

Night herons stand still at the water's edge, and wait to ambush prey, mainly at night. They primarily eat small fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
, crustacean
Crustacean

Crustaceans are a large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles....
s, frog
Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . The name frog derives from Old English language frogga, , cognate with Sanskrit plava , probably deriving from Proto-Indo-European language praw = "to jump"....
s, aquatic insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s, and small mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s. During the day they rest in trees or bushes.

There are seven extant species. The genus Nycticorax has suffered more than any other ciconiiform genus from extinction
Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the death of every member of a species or group of taxon. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species ....
, mainly because of their capability to colonize small, predator-free oceanic islands, and a tendency to evolve towards flightlessness.

Genera

  • Nycticorax
    Nycticorax

    Nycticorax is a genus of night herons. The name Nycticorax derives from the Greek language for ?night raven? and refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of birds, and the croaking crow call of the best known species, the Black-crowned Night Heron....
  • Gorsachius
    Gorsachius

    Gorsachius is a genus of night herons. These are medium-sized, largely nocturnal herons which are bird migration outside the tropical parts of their ranges....


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