Ajay Kumar at 21:32, 30 August 2023

2023-08-30T21:32:25Z

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{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}{{Speciesbox
| image = BCNH_CMCNJ_for_Wiki_(cropped).png
| image_caption = Black-crowned night-heron at a rookery in Cape May County, NJ.
| image2 = Nycticorax nycticorax - Black-crowned Night Heron - XC99573.ogg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2019 |title=''Nycticorax nycticorax'' |volume=2019 |page=e.T22697211A155515762 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22697211A155515762.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Nycticorax
| species = nycticorax
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| range_map = Nycticorax_nycticorax_map.svg
| range_map_caption = Range of ''N. nycticorax'' {{leftlegend|#FFFF00|Breeding range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#008000|Year-round range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#0000FF|Wintering range|outline=gray}}
| synonyms = ''Ardea nycticorax'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}}
}}
[[File:A Night Heron building a nest.JPG|thumb|A night-heron building a nest.]]

The '''black-crowned night-heron''' ('''''Nycticorax nycticorax'''''), or '''black-capped night-heron''', commonly shortened to just '''night-heron''' in [[Eurasia]], is a medium-sized [[heron]] found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and North and South America. In [[Australasia]] it is replaced by the closely related [[nankeen night-heron]] (''N. caledonicus''), with which it has [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridized]] in the area of contact.

==Taxonomy==
The black-crowned night-heron was [[Species description|formally described]] by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1758 in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''. He placed it with herons, cranes and egrets in the [[genus]] ''[[Ardea (bird)|Ardea]]'' and coined the [[binomial name]] ''Ardea nicticorax''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | pages=142–143 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727049 }}</ref> It is now placed in the genus ''[[Nycticorax]]'' that was introduced in 1817 by the English naturalist [[Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster|Thomas Forster]] for this species.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Forster | first=T. | author-link=Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster | year=1817 | title=A Synoptical Catalogue of British Birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to Observations on British ornithology | publisher=Nichols, son, and Bentley | location=London | page=59 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13330976 }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=August 2022 | title=Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/pelicans/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=28 November 2022 }}</ref> The epithet ''nycticorax'' is from [[Ancient Greek]] and combines ''nux'', ''nuktos'' meaning "night" and ''korax'' meaning "raven". The word was used by authors such as [[Aristotle]] and [[Hesychius of Miletus]] for a "bird of ill omen", perhaps an owl. The word was used by the Swiss naturalist [[Conrad Gessner]] in 1555 and then by subsequent authors for a black-crowned night-heron.<ref>{{cite book| last=Gesner | first=Conrad | author-link=Conrad Gessner | title=Historiae animalium liber III qui est de auium natura. Adiecti sunt ab initio indices alphabetici decem super nominibus auium in totidem linguis diuersis: & ante illos enumeratio auium eo ordiné quo in hoc volumine continentur | year=1555 | publisher= Froschauer | location=Zurich | language=Latin | pages=602–603 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/52661484 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=277 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n277/mode/1up }}</ref>

Four [[subspecies]] are recognised:<ref name=ioc/>
* ''N. n. nycticorax'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Eurasia south to Africa and Madagascar and east to east Asia, Philippines and Indonesian Archipelago
* ''N. n. hoactli'' ([[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1789) – south Canada to north Argentina and Chile; Hawaii
* ''N. n. obscurus'' ([[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1855) – Chile and southwest Argentina
* ''N. n. falklandicus'' ([[Ernst Hartert|Hartert, EJO]], 1914) – Falkland Islands

In the [[Falkland Islands]], the bird is called ''quark'', which is an [[onomatopoeia]] similar to its name in many other languages, like ''qua-bird'' in English, {{Lang|nl|kwak}} in Dutch and [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]], {{Lang|cs|kvakoš noční}} in [[Czech language|Czech]], {{Lang|uk|квак}} in [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], {{Lang|ru|кваква}} in Russian, {{Lang|vi|vạc}} in [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], {{Lang|id|kowak-malam}} in [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]], and {{Lang|qu|waqwa}} in [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]].

== Description ==
Adults have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. They have pale grey wings and white under parts. Two or three long white plumes, erected in greeting and courtship displays, extend from the back of the head. The sexes are similar in appearance although the males are slightly larger. Black-crowned night-herons do not fit the typical body form of the heron family. They are relatively stocky with shorter bills, legs, and necks than their more familiar cousins, the egrets and "day" herons. Their resting posture is normally somewhat hunched but when hunting they extend their necks and look more like other wading birds.

Immature birds have dull grey-brown plumage on their heads, wings, and backs, with numerous pale spots. Their underparts are paler and streaked with brown. The young birds have orange eyes and duller yellowish-green legs. They are very noisy birds in their nesting colonies, with calls that are commonly transcribed as {{Not a typo|''quok''}} or {{Not a typo|''woc''}}.

'''Measurements''':<ref>{{Cite web|title=Black-crowned Night-Heron Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology|url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-crowned_Night-Heron/id|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.allaboutbirds.org|language=en}}</ref>

* '''Length''': 22.8–26.0 in (58–66 cm)
* '''Weight''': 25.6–35.8 oz (727–1014 g)
* '''Wingspan''': 45.3–46.5 in (115–118 cm)

== Distribution ==
The breeding habitat is fresh and salt-water [[wetland]]s throughout much of the world. The subspecies ''N. n. hoactli'' breeds in North and South America from Canada as far south as northern [[Argentina]] and [[Chile]], ''N. n. obscurus'' in southernmost South America, ''N. n. falklandicus'' in the [[Falkland Islands]], and the nominate race ''N. n. nycticorax'' in Europe, Asia and Africa. Black-crowned night-herons nest in [[Bird colony|colonies]] on platforms of sticks in a group of trees, or on the ground in protected locations such as islands or reedbeds. Three to eight eggs are laid.

This heron is [[bird migration|migratory]] in the northernmost part of its range, but otherwise resident (even in the cold [[Patagonia]]). The North American population winters in Mexico, the southern United States, Central America, and the West Indies, and the Old World birds winter in tropical Africa and southern Asia.

A colony of the herons has regularly summered at the [[National Zoological Park (United States)|National Zoo]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] for more than a century.<ref name="Smithsonian’s mystery of the black-crowned night-herons solved by satellites">{{cite web|last1=Akpan|first1=Nsikan|date=12 May 2015|title=Smithsonian's mystery of the black-crowned night-herons solved by satellites|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/sciencescope-smithsonians-mystery-black-crowned-night-herons-solved-satellites/|website=[[PBS NewsHour]]|publisher=PBS|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref> The birds also prominently live year-round in the shores around the [[San Francisco Bay]], with the largest rookery in [[Oakland, California|Oakland]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2019-05-24|title=Oakland Has Its First Official Bird Thanks to These Dedicated Kids|url=https://www.audubon.org/news/oakland-has-its-first-official-bird-thanks-these-dedicated-kids|access-date=2021-06-19|website=Audubon|language=en}}</ref> Their ever presence at Oakland's [[Lake Merritt]] and throughout the city's downtown area, as well as their resilience to the urban environment and displacement efforts, have led to them being named Oakland's official city bird.<ref name=":0" />

=== Status in Great Britain ===
There are two archaeological specimens of the black-crowned night-heron in [[Great Britain]]. The oldest is from the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[London Wall]] and the more recent from the [[Royal Navy]]'s late medieval victualling yards in [[Greenwich]].<ref name="Yalden & Albarella">{{cite book | author1 = D.W. Yalden| author2 = U. Albarella | year = 2009 | title = The History of British Birds | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-019-958116-0}}</ref> It appears in the London [[poulterer]]s' price lists as the Brewe, a bird which was thought to have been the [[Eurasian whimbrel]] or [[glossy ibis]], which has now been shown to refer to the black-crowned night-heron, derived from the medieval French ''Bihoreau''.<ref name= "Bourne">{{cite journal | author = W.R.P. Bourne | year = 2003 | title = Fred Stubbs, Egrets, Brewes and climatic change | journal = British Birds | volume = 96 | pages = 332–339}}</ref> Black-crowned night-heron may have bred in the far wetter and wider landscape of pre-modern Britain. They were certainly imported for the table so the bone specimens themselves do not prove they were part of the British avifauna. In modern times the black-crowned night-heron is a vagrant and feral breeding colonies were established at [[Edinburgh Zoo]] from 1950 into the 21st century<ref name="Forrester & Andrews">{{cite book | editor1 = R.W. Forrester | editor2 = I.J. Andrews | year = 2007 | title = The Birds of Scotland Volume 1 | publisher = [[Scottish Ornithologists' Club]] | isbn = 978-0-9512139-0-2}}</ref> and at [[Great Witchingham]] in Norfolk, where there were 8 pairs in 2003 but breeding was not repeated in 2004 or 2005.<ref>Holling M. and the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (2007) Non-native breeding birds in the United Kingdom 2003, 2004 and 2005 British Birds 100 638–649</ref> A pair of adults were seen with two recently fledged juveniles in Somerset in 2017, which is the first proven breeding record of wild black-crowned night-herons in Great Britain.<ref name = RBA>{{cite web | url = http://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/Wildlife-Trusts-Night-Herons-breed-in-Somerset-a-UK-first.aspx?s_id=2065125 | title = Night-Herons breed in Somerset - a UK first | access-date = 2 August 2017 | publisher = Rare Bird Alert}}</ref>

== Behaviour ==
[[File:Black-crowned night heron (61438).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8| Juvenile in an "upright" threat display]]
These birds stand still at the water's edge and wait to ambush prey, mainly at night or early morning. They primarily eat small [[fish]], [[leech]]es, [[earthworm]]s, [[mussel]]s, [[squid]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nycticorax_nycticorax/ | title=Nycticorax nycticorax (Black-crowned night-heron) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> [[crustacean]]s (such as [[crayfish]]),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nycticorax_nycticorax/ | title=Nycticorax nycticorax (Black-crowned night-heron) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> [[frog]]s, other [[amphibian]]s,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nycticorax_nycticorax/ | title=Nycticorax nycticorax (Black-crowned night-heron) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> [[aquatic insect]]s, terrestrial insects, [[lizard]]s, [[snake]]s,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nycticorax_nycticorax/ | title=Nycticorax nycticorax (Black-crowned night-heron) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> small [[mammal]]s (such as [[rodent]]s),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nycticorax_nycticorax/ | title=Nycticorax nycticorax (Black-crowned night-heron) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> small [[bird]]s, [[egg]]s, [[carrion]], [[plant]] material, and [[garbage]] and refuse at [[landfill]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nycticorax_nycticorax/ | title=Nycticorax nycticorax (Black-crowned night-heron) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> They are among the seven heron species observed to engage in bait fishing; luring or distracting fish by tossing edible or inedible buoyant objects into water within their striking range – a rare example of tool use among birds.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Riehl|first=Christina|date=2001|title=Black-Crowned Night-Heron Fishes with Bait|jstor=1522044|journal=Waterbirds: The International Journal of Waterbird Biology|volume=24|issue=2|pages=285–286|doi=10.2307/1522044}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ruxton|first1=Graeme D.|last2=Hansell|first2=Michael H.|date=2011-01-01|title=Fishing with a Bait or Lure: A Brief Review of the Cognitive Issues|journal=Ethology|language=en|volume=117|issue=1|pages=1–9|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01848.x|issn=1439-0310}}</ref> During the day they rest in trees or bushes. ''N. n. hoactli'' is more gregarious outside the breeding season than the [[Subspecies|nominate race]].

== Parasites ==
A thorough study performed by J. Sitko and P. Heneberg in the Czech Republic in 1962–2013 suggested that the central European black-crowned night-herons host 8 [[helminth]] species. The dominant species consisted of ''[[Neogryporhynchus cheilancristrotus]]'' (62% prevalence), ''[[Contracaecum microcephalum]]'' (55% prevalence) and ''[[Opistorchis longissimus]]'' (10% prevalence). The mean number of helminth species recorded per host individual reached 1.41. In Ukraine, other helminth species are often found in black-crowned night-herons too, namely ''[[Echinochasmus beleocephalus]]'', ''[[Echinochasmus ruficapensis]]'', ''[[Clinostomum complanatum]]'' and ''[[Posthodiplostomum cuticola]]''.<ref name="Sitko & Heneberg 2015"/>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Nycticorax nycticorax MHNT.jpg|Egg
File:Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli).jpg|''N. n. hoactli'', [[Tobago]]
File:Bihoreau Gris.jpg|Feeding
File:Black-crowned Night Heron Arches NP.jpeg|Wading, [[Arches National Park]], [[Utah]]
File:Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) juvenile in flight.jpg|juvenile in flight, [[Cyprus]]
File:Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) in flight.jpg|adult in flight, [[Cyprus]]
File:Night Heron breakfast.jpg|Eating a Goldfish, [[Toronto]]
</gallery>

== References ==

{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Sitko & Heneberg 2015">{{Cite journal |last1=Sitko |first1=J. |last2=Heneberg |first2=P. |year=2015 |title=Composition, structure and pattern of helminth assemblages associated with central European herons (Ardeidae) |journal=Parasitology International |volume=64 |issue=1 |pages=100–112 |doi=10.1016/j.parint.2014.10.009|pmid=25449288 }}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
* {{ cite web | last1=Blasco-Zumeta | first1=Javier | last2=Heinze | first2=Gerd-Michael | work=Identification Atlas of Aragon's Birds | title=Black-crowned night-heron | url=http://blascozumeta.com/wp-content/uploads/aragon-birds/non-passeriformes/037.nightheron-nnycticorax.pdf }}
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Black-crowned_Night-Heron.html Black-crowned Night-Heron Species Account] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i2020id.html Black-crowned night-heron - ''Nycticorax nycticorax''] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter

{{Taxonbar|from=Q126216}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Herons|black-crowned night-heron]]
[[Category:Nycticorax|black-crowned night-heron]]
[[Category:Wading birds]]
[[Category:Cosmopolitan birds]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758|black-crowned night-heron]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|black-crowned night-heron]]
[[Category:Birds of Nepal]]
[[Category:Birds of the Dominican Republic]]

Black-crowned night heron - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 21:32, 30 August 2023