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Black-crowned night heron

Nycticorax nycticorax

Published on Project Noah
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4.78447, 7.09717

Field Notes

Description:

This is a medium sized heron, reaching some 60 cm in height; stocky birds with shorter bills, legs, and necks than their more familiar cousins, the egrets and "day" herons; and their resting posture is normally somewhat hunched. Presented here are adults: dark blue-grey mantle and crown; while whitish underneath with red legs.
(The immature bird can be seen here: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/142589545)

Habitat:

Cosmopolitan heron, here observed in mixed flocks of egrets and herons on a nesting ground and during nesting season. Nesting ground is a marsh (pic 6) in a Port Harcourt, one of the bigger towns in Nigeria.

Notes:

Mixed flocks of egrets and herons, Cattle egret and Night heron the most numerous, than Western Reef herons; and some other birds (Whistling ducks, Reed Cormorant, moorhens...)

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (1)

Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!

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