The white-backed night heron (''Gorsachius leuconotus'') is a species of medium-sized

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

in the family Ardeidae, found in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

Taxonomy

The German naturalist Johann Wagler described the white-backed night heron as ''Ardea leuconotus'' in 1827. Today the

IOC World Bird List ''Birds of the World: Recommended English Names'' is a paperback book, written by Frank Gill and Minturn Wright on behalf of the International Ornithologists' Union. The book is an attempt to produce a standardized set of English names for all b ...

places it in the genus ''

Gorsachius ''Gorsachius'' is a genus of Old World night herons typically found near water in forested regions. These are medium-sized herons which are migratory in the colder parts of their ranges, but otherwise resident. They are the least known, most st ...

'', while

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

and the ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

'' place it in ''Calherodius''. Its name derives from a patch of white feathers that form a triangle on its back.

Description

The white-backed night heron is in length with a black head and a short

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

, or prominent feather display on the top of its head. The heron has large red eyes with white-ringed markings around them, and the

lore Lore may refer to: * Folklore, acquired knowledge or traditional beliefs * Oral lore or oral tradition, orally conveyed cultural knowledge and traditions Places * Loré, former French commune * Loré (East Timor), a city and subdistrict in Lau ...

s, or the region behind the eye, are a pale yellow hue. The throat feathers are white, whereas the neck and breast are

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...

, or a reddish-brown hue. There is a notable white triangular patch along the back formed by the white scapulars, or small feathers, on the shoulder of the bird. The belly feathers are a whitish-brown and the legs are yellow. An immature heron can be identified by its streaked breast and the white spots on the upper-wing coverts. Chicks are covered with olive-brown down.

Distribution and habitat

The white-backed night heron is located throughout central and southern Africa, with a range estimated at . Its primary habitat is dense forests with neighboring waterways, particularly streams, lakes,

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s and

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es.

Behavior and ecology

The white-backed night heron can be found living individually or in pairs. Nocturnal by nature, they roost in the dense vegetation of marshes and forests during the daylight hours, often nesting high within the trees. Their nests are well-hidden, usually built in vegetation near water and sometimes in reedbeds, mangroves, rocks and caves. The nest is built resembling a platform of sticks or reeds, wide. They usually breed during the rainy season or early in the dry season. There are two to three greenish-white eggs in a clutch, and incubation lasts roughly 24 to 26 days. The chicks leave the nest after six to seven weeks. The white-backed night heron seems to be sedentary, but it has been observed in some circumstances to have migrated to locations with heavy rain. White-backed night herons are known foragers, meaning they search for food primarily along waterways. They have been observed to eat

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

s and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s. Though usually quiet, they let out a loud ''kroak'' call when alarmed and a ''taash'' call when disturbed.

Status

The population of the white-backed night heron is believed to be stable because it does not appear to undergo significant population declines or experience any notable threats. Due to these factors and its large range, the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

has assessed the species to be of least concern. The species is currently experiencing a small number of threats, including habitat loss in southern Africa and hunting in Nigeria, where they are used for traditional medicine.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q763338

white-backed night heron The white-backed night heron (''Gorsachius leuconotus'') is a species of medium-sized heron in the family Ardeidae, found in sub-Saharan Africa. Taxonomy The German naturalist Johann Wagler described the white-backed night heron as ''Ardea leu ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN