Nankeen Night Heron
The nankeen night heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) is a heron that belongs to the genus Nycticorax and the family Ardeidae. Due to its distinctive reddish-brown colour, it is also commonly referred to as the rufous night heron. It is primarily nocturnal and is observed in a broad range of habitats, including forests, meadows, shores, reefs, marshes, grasslands, and swamps. The species is 55 to 65 cm (22 to 26 in) in length, with rich cinnamon upperparts and white underparts. The nankeen night heron has a stable population size, and is classified as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). == Taxonomy == The nankeen night heron was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with herons, cranes and storks in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea caledonica. Gmelin based his description on the "Caledonian night heron" that had been described in 1875 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. The heron had been observed in September 1774 on the island of New Caledonia during Captain…
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