Malayan Night Heron

Gorsachius melanolophus

Family: Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns · Status: Uncommon migrant · Size: 48–51 cm · Conservation: Least Concern

Range

Breeds patchily from India and southern China east to Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, the Philippines, and south through Indochina to the northern Thai-Malay Peninsula. Northern populations winter to Sri Lanka, the southern Thai-Malay Peninsula, and the Greater Sundas.

Identification

Adult has deep rufous head-sides and neck with black crown and long crest, chestnut brown upperparts, wing-coverts and upper breast, and densely marked black-and-white underparts; white-tipped primaries visible in flight and bluish-green lores. Juvenile like adult but duller with dense irregular whitish and buffish bars and vermiculations on underparts and wing-coverts.

Habitat

Forest, forest edge, gardens, parks and wooded areas.

Behaviour

Solitary and crepuscular or nocturnal; forages by standing still or walking slowly, taking insects, frogs, and other small animals.