Black-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

OTHER NAMES: Night Heron

Latin Etymology: Nycticorax ("night raven") nycticorax ("night raven")

Adult Black-crowned Night Heron (subspecies N. n. nycticorax) at Kyoto, Japan - July 2013

Featured Subspecies: Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax
Weight: 800g  /  Length: 64cm  /  Wingspan: 112cm
NO UK STATUS  / IUCN Red List Least Concern

The Black-Crowned Night Heron is a medium sized heron with a huge international range, spreading down the entire length of the Americas, and across Eurasia from Iberia to Japan, and from the Nile to South Africa making it one of the most widely distributed species on the planet.  Despite all this, it isn't found in the UK except as a vagrant except for a few feral colonies.  I saw this species in good numbers during my Kyoto trip - this one was showing very well along the Kamo River, and I saw a colony nesting on the edge of Osaka Zoo from the train.  In Europe I saw this species once - a brown juvenile flying along the river beneath Toledo.

Related Species:
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Nycticorax
Subspecies: N. n. nycticorax, N. n. hoactli, N. n. obscurus, N. n. falklandicus

 - Sighting Locations -

CAMBODIA - Khmer: ខ្វែក 

A locally common resident.

 - CAMBODIA/SINGAPORE 2019 TRIP: Several at Prek Toal

JAPAN - Japanese - ゴイサギ  /  Goi sagi  ("Bittern Heron")

Locally common resident.

 - KYOTO/OSAKA 2013 TRIP: Common along the river in Kyoto, a colony seen from the train in Osaka 

MALAYSIA - Malay - Pucung Kuak ("Croak Heron")
Fairly common resident.

 - MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE 2016 TRIP: Several seen in flyover around Kuala Lumpur

SPAIN - Spanish - Pucung Kuak ("Croak Heron")
Fairly common resident.

 - MADRID 2015 TRIP: A single juvenile seen at Toledo
 - MADRID 2016 TRIP: A single adult seen at Laguna Navaseca

UNITED STATES 
Resident on most coastal areas, breeds inland at lower elevations
 - CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Seen at Berkeley

Further Notes: Birdforum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto