Rufous Night Heron Nycticorax caledonicus
(aka Nankeen Night Heron)
Rufous Night Heron, Melbourne Victoria, Australia, January 2006 - click for larger image Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
January 2006

The Rufous Night Heron is distributed in the Philippines, Indonesia and adjacent islands and in Australia except in the dry interior and Nullarbor Coast. It is found round the edges of inland or coastal waters normally with forested or wooded margins. This bird was roosting in trees at Melbourne Botanic Gardens.

Rufous Night Heron, Melbourne Victoria, Australia, January 2006 - click for larger image It is mainly active from dusk to dawn which is why this bird took me by surprise when it flashed out of a bush without giving me time for a proper photo.

Though difficult to see from these photos, it has a black cap, cinnamon upperparts and whitish underparts with a buffy tinge. When breeding it has two or three white head plumes which you can just make out on these photos.

The sub-species found in Australia, N. c. hilli, is noticeably more cinnamon than the much duller nominate sub-species found in New Caledonia.
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