The Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus), also known as Malaysian night heron and tiger bittern, is a medium-sized heron The adult herons have reddish brown plumage with streaked underparts, black underwings, a black crown and crest. The cere region appears to be bare skin, grey in colour. The neck and head is rufous coloured on the sides. It has a stout bill and a short neck. The wings have a broad black band fromed by the primaries, shorter on the secondaries and thinner on the tertails portion. The juveniles vary from greyish in colouration in the Northeast India regions to rufous in the peninsular region, they are finely vermiculated with white, black and rufous-buff, and with bold white spotting on crown and crest.
🗒 Synonyms
| synonym | Nycticorax melanolophus (Raffles, 1822) |
🗒 Common Names
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📚 Overview
Summary
Bird group
Herons
No Data
📚 Nomenclature and Classification
📚 Natural History
Size
Relative Size (Birds)
Village Hen±
Length about 46 cm, weight: 417 to 450 g. Wingspan: 80 to 85 cm.
No Data
📚 Habitat and Distribution
General Habitat
Habitat
Terrestrial
Freshwater
They are shy inhabitants of streams and marshes in thick forest.
This is a heron of mature moist forests. It occurs in dense, high rainfall, subtropical forests ranging from the low wetlands, where it uses streams, marshes, and swamps, to moderate elevations, where it uses evergreen forests, secondary scrub and reservoirs. It occurs as high as 800 m in west India, 1200 m in Thailand, 1800 m in Sri Lanka, and 2300 m in east India. It uses reed beds in migration and is often reported as making use of human environments, particularly flooded rice fields, pastures, and vegetable gardens and nesting near houses.
Description
Global Distribution
India, North Bangladesh
Distribution In India
Resident in heavy rainfall areas of the Western Ghats, eastern India
Distribution In Assam
Assam
The Malayan Night Heron breeds in India (west India, Assam and Manipur, Nicobar islands), Nepal, Thailand (north), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, (Cambodia not certain), south China (Hainan, Guangzhou, Taiwan – Sykes 1996, Yunan, Gaunxi, Kwangsi, Guangdong (Lansdown pers. com.), the Philippines (including Palawan), and Japan (Ryukyu Islands). Recent information reporting immature birds in Malaysia (Peninsular, Taman Negra), Java, and Borneo suggests nesting, but this needs to be confirmed ((Perennou et al. 2000, R. Lansdown pers. com.). It occurs during non breeding in west India (Perennou et al. 2000), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, south China (Hainan, Guangzhou, Taiwan), Malaysia (Malay Peninsula, Sarawak), Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Kalimatan, Halmahara, Talaud) (Coates et al. 1997), the Philippines (to Palawan), and Japan (Ryukyu Islands).
Global Distribution
Native: Bangladesh; Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; China; India; Indonesia; Japan; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Nepal; Philippines; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Taiwan, Province of China; Thailand; Viet Nam. Vagrant: Christmas Island; Palau.
No Data
📚 Occurrence
No Data
📚 Demography and Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Category
Least Concern
No Data
📚 Uses and Management
📚 Information Listing
References
- Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2016. Checklist of the birds of India (v1.1). Website: http://www.indianbirds.in/india/ [Date of publication: 03 October, 2016].
- Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2018. Checklist of the birds of India (v2.0). Website: http://www.indianbirds.in/india/ [Date of publication: 31 January, 2018].
- Mahmood Syed Faheem. Malayan night heron, Birds of India | Bird World. https://indianbirds.thedynamicnature.com/2015/03/malayan-night-heron-gorsachius-melanolophus.html. Date of access - 21/04/2018.
- Malayan Night Heron, Gorsachius melanolophus (Raffles). Heron connservation. http://www.heronconservation.org/herons-of-the-world/malayan-night-heron/. Date of access - 21/04/2018.
Information Listing > References
- Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2016. Checklist of the birds of India (v1.1). Website: http://www.indianbirds.in/india/ [Date of publication: 03 October, 2016].
- Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2018. Checklist of the birds of India (v2.0). Website: http://www.indianbirds.in/india/ [Date of publication: 31 January, 2018].
- Mahmood Syed Faheem. Malayan night heron, Birds of India | Bird World. https://indianbirds.thedynamicnature.com/2015/03/malayan-night-heron-gorsachius-melanolophus.html. Date of access - 21/04/2018.
- Malayan Night Heron, Gorsachius melanolophus (Raffles). Heron connservation. http://www.heronconservation.org/herons-of-the-world/malayan-night-heron/. Date of access - 21/04/2018.
No Data
🐾 Taxonomy
| Root | Root |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Pelecaniformes |
| Family | Ardeidae |
| Genus | Gorsachius |
| Species | Gorsachius melanolophus (Raffles 1822) |
📊 Temporal Distribution
📷 Related Observations
👥 Groups
