Alternative names: Malay Night-Heron
- Gorsachius melanolophus
Identification
45-49 cm (17¾-19¼ in)
- Dark reddish-brown and black heron
- Black cap and crest
- White-tipped primaries
- Chestnut-barred upperparts
- Olive feet and bill
Distribution
Patchy range in India and South-East Asia.
Breeds in two separate areas of India, in the Western Ghats from Belgaum southwards in south-west India and in the north-east in Assam and Manipur. Also breeds in scattered areas of Burma, Thailand, Indochina, China (including Hong Kong and Hainan) and further south in Malaya, the Nicobar Islands, eastern Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines. Some birds are resident on the southern Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and in Taiwan.
South-west Indian birds winter in the highlands of Sri Lanka and arrive October-November and those from north-east India move south-west into Burma and Thailand in August-October.
It is related to, but distinct from, the Japanese Night Heron.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Streams in dense hill forest, lowland swamps.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of beetles and other insects, earthworms, frogs, lizards, molluscs, snakes and possibly small fish.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Malayan Night Heron. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 9 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Malayan_Night_Heron
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