Rufous night-heron

The Nankeen Night Heron stands about 60cm tall. It is not strictly nocturnal. It often feeds during the day, especially during wet weather. The bird is dependent on a diet of small fish, reptiles, insects and sometimes eggs. It can be seen around freshwater rivers, lakes, bulrushes, estuaries, harbors and in residential fishponds for goldfish.

Picture of the Rufous night-heron has been licensed under a GFDL
Original source: A pair of Nankeen Night Herons at the Melbourne Zoo.
Permission: GNU Free Documentation License

The Rufous night-heron is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

* Rufous Night-heron (c) P Waanders There is a colony here in dense, old pine trees surrounding a small park. One of the birds has become accustomed to picnicking p Old Noarlunga, South Australia, Australia (ssp hilli) Peter Waanders 24 November 2009 12 weeks ago 4.3 * A juvenile bird perching on a branch. More

The Nankeen or Rufous Night-Heron is a mainly nocturnal heron that roosts during the day. It is a stocky heron with a large head, short neck and thick, quite long yellow legs. They feed mainly on fish, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, insects and other invertebrates. Their bills have finely serrated edges that help grip slippery, active prey. They feed by plunging their bills forward while wading, standing still or shuffling a foot ahead to disturb prey. More

At Melbourne Zoo Australia The Nankeen or Rufous Night-Heron is a mainly nocturnal heron that roosts during the day. It is a stocky heron with a large head, short neck and thick, quite long yellow legs. / During breeding the head has two or three long slender plumes. / They feed mainly on fish, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, insects and other invertebrates. More

Picture of Nycticorax caledonicus above has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial.
Original source: Ian Sanderson
-Ian Sanderson -Author: Ian Sanderson
Permission: Some rights reserved
Order : Ciconiiformes
Family : Ardeidae
Genus : Nycticorax
Species : caledonicus
Authority : (Gmelin, 1789)