Identifying Japanese Night Heron Gorsachius goisagi

Malayan Night Heron Gorsachius melanolophus is an uncommon passage migrant and rare summer breeder in Hong Kong, while Japanese Night Heron Gorsachius goisagi is a very rare and little known species in HK and over the world. So the Japanese Night Heron is always one of our dream list, no matter in HK or Japan. Wing Tung and I decided to twitch this heron once there is news of tame bird in urban parks in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, but we were very lucky to tick this species in Hong Kong before that, an adult in winter plumage (said by the RC, though I still think it is an immature) came to HK in Dec 2014.

Both adult Malayan and Japanese Night Heron look very similar, but still identifiable by looking at the head. For Japanese, it shows rather dull crown and lacks the long crest which Malayan has. Also, Japanese plumage is duller while Malayan is richer chestnut-brown. Bill for Japanese is a bit shorter but this is difficult to tell. In summer (breeding) plumage is easier, Malayan Night Heron shows beautiful bluish facial skin and eyering.

Japanese Night Heron - one of our most memorable twitch in HK