Nycticorax

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
See also: Nyctanassa

Nycticorax
Temporal range:
Early Oligocene
to present
Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Subfamily: Ardeinae
Genus: Nycticorax
T. Forster, 1817
Type species
Nycticorax infaustus[1] = Ardea nycticorax
T. Forster, 1817
Species

2 extant, see text

Nycticorax is a

nocturnal feeding habits of this group of birds, and the croaking crow-like call of the best known species, the black-crowned night heron.[2]

These are medium-sized herons which often are migratory in the colder parts of their ranges.

Adults are short-necked, relatively short-legged and stout herons; the two

Mascarenes
taxa appear to have retained this juvenile plumage in adult birds.

Night herons nest in

eggs
are laid.

They stand at the water's edge, and wait to ambush prey, mainly at night. They primarily eat small fish, crustaceans, frogs, aquatic insects, and small mammals. During the day they rest in trees or bushes.

Taxonomy

Stuffed night heron in the American Museum of Natural History

The genus Nycticorax was introduced in 1817 by the English naturalist Thomas Forster to accommodate the black-crowned night heron.[3][4] 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 the black-crowned night heron.[5][6]

The genus now contains just two species.[7]

In addition to the species listed below, the night herons of the genera Nyctanassa and Gorsachius were formerly placed in Nycticorax.[4]

Extant species

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Nycticorax nycticorax Black-crowned night heron Europe, Asia, and North and South America
Nycticorax caledonicus Nankeen night heron or rufous night heron Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Java, New Caledonia, Palau, and the Caroline Islands, Federated States of Micronesia

Extinct species and fossils

In addition, the following taxa are known from fossil bones:

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nycticorax.
  1. ^ "Ardeidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  2. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  3. ^ Forster, T. (1817). 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. London: Nichols, son, and Bentley. p. 59.
  4. ^ a b Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 228.
  5. ^ Gesner, Conrad (1555). 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 (in Latin). Zurich: Froschauer. pp. 602–603.
  6. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  7. Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2023). "Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans"
    . IOC World Bird List. 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  8. S2CID 86588636. Archived from the original
    on 24 May 2007.(subscription required)
  9. ^ "†Nycticorax fidens Brodkorb 1963 (night heron)". Fossilworks.

"Night Herons" at the Encyclopedia of Life

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nycticorax&oldid=1228473195"