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Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax   [Linnaeus, 1758]
Other Names Records Books & Links
Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ardeidae
BTO Codes: NT , NIGHE EURING No: 1040
Number in Britain: Fewer than 20 records
Conservation Status:
UK: Unlisted
European: 3 Concern, most not in Europe; Depleted
Global: Least Concern
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Status in UK: (A)  Escaped Breeder, Scarce Visitor
Subspecies: nycticorax recorded in Britain (of 4 subsp. in the world)
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Length: 62 cm Wingspan: 108 cm Weight: M/F: 650 g    
Scientific name from: Gr.: nukticorax a bird of eveil omen mentioned by Aristotle and others
World Distribution: local in c,s Europe, s,e Asia, w,e,s Africa and Americas
Habitat: Marshes, ponds, lakes and mangrove
Diet: Mostly fish, amphibians, insects from cover at water's edge, mostly nocturnal
TitBit: Young Black-crowned Night-Herons often disgorge their stomach contents when disturbed. This habit makes it easy to study its diet  
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Records and Distribution
First Record: 1782 (Latham, J. 1781-1801. A general synopsis of birds)
Total Number of Records (1958-2004): 10 per year Summary of Records by Year
Most Likely to Occur in: April to June (some through December)
Most Recent County Records:
   Scotland: Shetland (1994),
   North-east England: Cleveland (1996), Durham , Northumberland (1999), East Yorkshire (2000), North Yorkshire (1992), South Yorkshire (1996), West Yorkshire (1998),
   North-west England: Cheshire (2000), Cumbria (1999), Lancashire (1998),
   English Midlands: Derbyshire (1995), Leicestershire , Northamptonshire , Nottinghamshire , Shropshire , Staffordshire (2000), Warwickshire (2001), West Midlands (1994), Worcestershire (1983),
   Eastern England: Bedfordshire (2000), Cambridgeshire (2001), Essex (1990), Hertfordshire , Lincolnshire , Norfolk (1998), Suffolk (2000),
   South-east England: Berkshire (1987), Buckinghamshire , Hampshire (1999), Isle of Wight (1997), Kent (1999), Greater London , Oxfordshire , Surrey (2004), East Sussex (2000), West Sussex (1997),
   South-west England: Cornwall (2001), Devon (2001), Dorset (2001), Gloucestershire (2000), Somerset (1999), Wiltshire (1997), Isles of Scilly (2002),
   Wales: Anglesey (1998), Ceredigion (2000), Glamorgan , Gwent (1997), Pembrokeshire ,
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Other Names
Black-crowned Night Heron
Gaelic: Welsh: Crëyr y Nos
Danish: Nathejre Dutch: Kwak
Finnish: Yöhaikara French: Bihoreau gris
German: Nachtreiher Hungarian: Bakcsó
Icelandic: Nátthegri Irish: Corr Oíche
Italian: Nitticora Norwegian: Natthegre
Polish: Slepowron zwyczajny Portuguese: Goraz
Spanish: Martinete Swedish: Natthäger
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For More Information...
Books and Monographs:
   Voisin, C. 1991 The herons of Europe Poyser, London [598.461 VOI]
   Fasola, M. & Hafner, H. 1997 BWP Update 1:157-165
   Kushlan, J.A. & Hancock, J. 2005 The Herons Oxford University Press [598.461 KUS]
See Also:
All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Gough, G.A. et al. (1998) Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter
Wikipedia entry
Recent sightings and information from BirdGuides.com
Find papers on Google Scholar
Find papers on Scirus

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Email: birdfacts@bto.org

These data should be cited as:
Robinson, R.A. (2005) BirdFacts: profiles of birds occurring in Britain & Ireland (v1.21, Jun 2008). BTO Research Report 407, BTO, Thetford (http://www.bto.org/birdfacts)

 

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