Afghanistan (B), Albania (B), Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia (B), Aruba, Austria (B), Azerbaijan (B) (P), Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus (B), Belgium (B) (NB), Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B), Botswana (B), Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria (B) (NB) (P), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada (B) (P), Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China (mainland), Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Costa Rica, Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B), Cuba, Cyprus (P), Czech Republic (B) (NB), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), France (B) (NB) (P), French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia (B), Germany (B), Ghana, Greece (B) (NB) (P), Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam (NB), Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-bissau (B), Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong (China) (B), Hungary (B), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B) (NB), Iraq (B) (NB) (P), Israel (B) (NB) (P), Italy (B) (NB) (P), Jamaica (B) (NB), Japan, Jordan (B) (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon (B), Lesotho, Liberia, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B) (NB), Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Martinique, Mauritania, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia [Federated States of] (NB), Moldova [Republic of] (B) (NB) (P), Montenegro (B) (P), Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands (B), Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Oman, Pakistan, Palau (NB), Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland (B), Portugal (B) (P), Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania (B) (NB) (P), Russia (European) (B) (P), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal (B), Serbia (B) (P), Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B), Slovenia (B), Somalia, South Africa (B), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Korea, Spain (B) (NB) (P), Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland (B), Syrian Arab Republic (B), Taiwan (China), Tajikistan (B), Tanzania [United Republic of] (B), Thailand, Timor-Leste (B) (NB), Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey (B) (NB), Turkmenistan (B), Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine (B) (NB) (P), United Arab Emirates, Uruguay (B), USA (B), Uzbekistan (B), Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (British) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (NB), Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Vagrant to Australia, Cape Verde, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Denmark, Djibouti, Faroe Islands, Finland, French Southern Territories, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mongolia, North Korea, Norway, Sâo Tomé e Principe, Seychelles, St Helena, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), Sweden, United Kingdom.
Population
Estimated population is 510,000 - 3,600,000 (2010).
Status LC
Wetland drainage and destruction and by drought in wintering areas are the main threats. Also, it is highly susceptible to pesticides, which negatively affect hatching success and avian influenza. Hunting and taking of chicks is also a concern.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Fish, frogs, tadpoles, turtles, snakes, lizards, adult and larval, spiders, crustaceans, molluscs, leeches, small rodents, bats and the eggs and chicks of other bird species.
Voice
Deep croaking calls at colonies. A deep nasal barking 'kwok goa' or 'guap guap' uttered in flight.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus), with which known to have hybridized in Java, Sulawesi and Philippines. Subspecies hoactli and falklandicus sometimes absorbed within nycticorax and obscurus respectively.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
nycticorax (Linnaeus, 1758) - Central and southern Europe eastwards to central and southern Asia, extending north to Japan and south to Timor; Africa and Madagascar.
obscurus Bonaparte, 1855 - Northern Chile and north-central Argentina south to Tierra del Fuego.
hoactli (Gmelin, JF, 1789) - North, Central and South America from southern Canada to northern Chile and northern Argentina.
falklandicus Hartert, 1914 - Falkland Is.
Similar Species
Adults with adult Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) which has rufous on the back and wings and immatures with immature Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) which is generally more rufous-brown as opposed to grey-brown.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet