- Malayan Night Heron
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Malayan Night Heron 
Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Ardeidae Genus: Gorsachius Species: G. melanolophus Binomial name Gorsachius melanolophus
Raffles, 1822The Malayan Night Heron (Gorsachius melanolophus) also known as Malaysian Night Heron, is a medium-sized heron. It is distributed in south, east and southeast Asia, breeding in India, Taiwan, China and the Philippines.
The Malayan Night Heron stands about 47 cm tall. It is nocturnal and is found in forests. Adults have black crowns, and are reddish-brown overall, with dark reddish-brown underparts with fine streaks, and black underwings. The adults also have blue lores on the face, which can vary in colour after moulting. The sexes are similar, though males may have a darker crest and some birds, especially females, may retain juvenile plumage. The juvenile is greyish-brown with black and white spots, and its underparts are streaked.
This species is often found near water, and are also common in urban parks. The Malayan Night Heron feeds mostly on earthworms and frogs, and more rarely on fish and lizards. The heron often hunts giant earthworms, tugging it out of the ground and shaking it to bite the head off before eating it. It also undulates its throat while swallowing the worm. When threatened, the Malayan Night Heron will raise its crest.
The female Malayan Night Heron lays 3-5 eggs and does most of the incubation. Both parents feed the young. Third-party birds may sometimes attempt to help raise the young, but are often chased away by the parent birds. Some parent birds have been known to have immature plumage; most of these appear to be females.
Widespread throughout its large range, the Malayan Night Heron is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
References
- BirdLife International (2008). Gorsachius melanolophus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 February 2009. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern.
- Chang, Chuan-Chiung, Malayan Night Heron Gorsachius melanolophus breeding in immature plumage . Forktail, Oriental Bird Club, August 2000. Downloaded on 26 August 2010.
External links
Categories:- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Gorsachius
- Herons
- Birds of Asia
- Birds of Southeast Asia
- Birds of Bangladesh
- Birds of Brunei
- Birds of Cambodia
- Birds of China
- Birds of India
- Birds of Indonesia
- Birds of Japan
- Birds of Laos
- Birds of Malaysia
- Birds of Burma
- Birds of Nepal
- Birds of Pakistan
- Birds of the Philippines
- Birds of Singapore
- Birds of Sri Lanka
- Birds of Taiwan
- Birds of Thailand
- Birds of Vietnam
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