Nycticorax
Encyclopedia
Nycticorax is a genus
of night heron
s. The name Nycticorax derives from the Greek
for “night raven” and refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of bird
s, and the croaking crow-like
call of the best known species, the Black-crowned Night Heron
.
These are medium-sized heron
s which often are migratory
in the colder parts of their ranges.
Adults are short-necked, relatively short-legged and stout herons; the two extant species both have a black crown and a whitish belly, while the wings, chest, neck and auriculars are grey or rufous
depending on the species. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey, and are quite similar to each other in the extant 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
s are laid.
They stand at the water's edge, and wait to ambush prey, mainly at night. They primarily eat small fish
, crustacean
s, frog
s, aquatic insect
s, and small mammal
s. During the day they rest in trees or bushes.
and Gorsachius
were formerly placed in Nycticorax, but today all major authorities consider them separate.
In addition, the following taxa are known from fossil bones:
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of night heron
Night heron
The night herons are medium-sized herons in the genera Nycticorax, Nyctanassa and Gorsachius. The genus name Nycticorax derives from the Greek for “night raven” and refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of birds, and the croaking crow-like call of the best known species, the...
s. The name Nycticorax derives from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
for “night raven” and refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, and the croaking crow-like
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size 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...
call of the best known species, the Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
The Black-crowned Night Heron commonly abbreviated to just Night Heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, except in the coldest regions and Australasia .-Description:Adults are...
.
These are medium-sized heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
s which often are migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
in the colder parts of their ranges.
Adults are short-necked, relatively short-legged and stout herons; the two extant species both have a black crown and a whitish belly, while the wings, chest, neck and auriculars are grey or rufous
Rufous
Rufous is a colour that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron.The first recorded use of rufous as a colour name in English was in the year 1782....
depending on the species. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey, and are quite similar to each other in the extant species. At least some of the extinct Mascarenes taxa appear to have retained this juvenile plumage in adult birds.
Night herons nest in colonies
Bird colony
A bird colony is a large congregation of individuals of one or more species of bird that nest or roost in close proximity at a particular location. Many kinds of birds are known to congregate in groups of varying size; a congregation of nesting birds is called a breeding colony...
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)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
s are laid.
They stand at the water's edge, and wait to ambush prey, mainly at night. They primarily eat small fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s, aquatic insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, and small mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s. During the day they rest in trees or bushes.
Taxonomy
In addition to the species listed below, the night herons of the genera NyctanassaNyctanassa
Nyctanassa is a genus of night herons from the Americas, especially warmer coastal regions. They were formerly included in the genus Nycticorax, but today all major authorities recognize them as different....
and Gorsachius
Gorsachius
Gorsachius is a genus of Old World night herons typically found near water in forested regions. These are medium-sized herons which are migratory in the colder parts of their ranges, but otherwise resident...
were formerly placed in Nycticorax, but today all major authorities consider them separate.
- Black-crowned Night HeronBlack-crowned Night HeronThe Black-crowned Night Heron commonly abbreviated to just Night Heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, except in the coldest regions and Australasia .-Description:Adults are...
, Nycticorax nycticorax - Rodrigues Night HeronRodrigues Night HeronThe Rodrigues Night Heron is an extinct species of heron formerly occurring on the Mascarene island of Rodrigues.It is known from subfossil bones and the 1708 description of Leguat as well as the 1726 report of Julien Tafforet...
, Nycticorax megacephalus (extinct) - Réunion Night HeronRéunion Night HeronThe Réunion Night Heron is an extinct species of heron formerly occurring on the Mascarene island of Réunion.It was for a long time only known from a single description, that of Dubois published in 1674. He speaks of "bitterns" the size of fat chickens which had grey plumage with white...
, Nycticorax duboisi (extinct) - Mauritius Night HeronMauritius Night HeronThe Mauritius Night Heron is an extinct night heron species from Mauritius. It is only known by seven subfossil bone remains consisted of cranium, pelvis, coracoid, ulna, radius, and tarsometatarsus found in Mare aux Songes. Only the coracoid and the tarsometatarsus are left today...
, Nycticorax mauritianus (extinct) - Ascension Night HeronAscension Night HeronThe Ascension Night Heron is an extinct Night heron species from the genus Nycticorax endemic to the South Atlantic island of Ascension...
, Nycticorax olsoni (extinct) - Niue Night Heron, Nycticorax kalavikai (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - ‘Eua Night Heron, Nycticorax sp. (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - Lifuka Night Heron, Nycticorax sp. (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - may be same as ‘Eua species - Nankeen Night HeronNankeen Night HeronThe Nankeen Night Heron, Nycticorax caledonicus, also commonly referred to as the Rufous Night Heron, and in Melanesia as Melabaob, is a medium-sized heron. It is found throughout much of Australia except the arid inland, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia...
or Rufous Night Heron, Nycticorax caledonicus- Bonin Nankeen Night HeronBonin Nankeen Night HeronThe Bonin Night Heron is an extinct subspecies of the Nankeen Night Heron.-Description:The Bonin Night Heron was described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1839 based on reports by Heinrich von Kittlitz and by Captain Frederick William Beechey from the British ship HMS Blossom from 1828. It reached a...
, Nycticorax caledonicus crassirostris (extinct, c.1890)
- Bonin Nankeen Night Heron
In addition, the following taxa are known from fossil bones:
- Nycticorax sp. (Early OligoceneOligoceneThe Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
of Fayyum, Egypt) (fossilFossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
) - Nycticorax fidens (Late MioceneMioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
of McGehee Farm, USA) (fossilFossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
)