Black-crowned night heron – Don't hold your breath

When I saw a family of Black-crowned Night Herons early on the first morning of November in Kathmandu’s Taudaha lake, I couldn’t remember when I’d seen it last. It is widespread and common, but it’s not numerous. In fact, it could be one of the most widespread birds in the world, being absent only in Russia and Belarus, the dense parts of the Amazon and central African forests, the African deserts, the Tibetan plateau, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Canada, and Greenland and the Antarctic. Sightings have even been reported from Micronesia.

The group I saw in Kathmandu consisted of two adults and two juveniles. They had probably been fishing through the night (this is the habit that gives them their generic name). One adult had its head tucked in to give it a typical heron-in-repose look, the other had its neck stretched out to scratch at its breast. Their red eyes were clearly visible. The juveniles still had their streaky brown colouring, but were already beginning the sprout the darker feathers on the crown.

I wondered whether an ancestral night heron evolved away from the normal diurnal habit of herons before giving rise to the many species of night herons we see today. Apparently not. According to a study of the functionality of their genes, different genus of night herons have different genetic adaptations to their eyes to enable them to see better in the dark. This means that they have evolved night vision separately. The study also found that the genes that control their sense of smell is not different from those of dirunal herons. Genes tell us more about organisms than just their descent.

There aren’t many places on WordPress where bird watchers can share posts. If you post any photos of birds this week (starting today and up to next Monday), it would be great if you could leave a link in the comments, or a pingback, for others to follow. You don’t have to post a recent photo, nor do you have to post a photo of the same bird as mine, but do use the tag “Bird of the Week” to help others find your post. For more information see the main landing page for this invitation.

Birds of the Week XL

Once upon a time, the story goes, every part of India was teeming with birds. I’ve heard this story from my grandmother. So it is nice to spend a weekend in a place where this could almost be true. The moment we get out of the village and into the fields around Bera, we began to see birds. There were the passage migrants which we had also seen in the Rann of Kutch, and the utterly familiar endemics.

This was a varied habitat; the edge of the Thar desert, but the dammed river nearby held water. Ibises and herons, wagtails and sandpipers could be seen there. In the thorn bushes we saw francolins, bushchats, and larks, as well as doves, fork-tailed drongos, and bulbuls. The small birds of prey, black-winged kites and shikra, told us of the numerous rodents in the area. Nightjars and owls could be seen at night, flying from the headlights of the jeep. We were told this was early for the winter migrants; they arrive in November.

Bera is known only for its leopards. But it turns out to be a good place for birds too. We did not see anything we hadn’t seen before, but we did spot some passage migrants without really looking for them. I’m sure there is much to discover here.

Tag: Black-crowned night heron

Black-crowned Night Heron + Birds of the Week Invitation XLI

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