Black-crowned night heron | |
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At a rookery in Cape May County, New Jersey | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Pelecaniformes |
Family: | Ardeidae |
Genus: | Nycticorax |
Species: | N. nycticorax
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Binomial name | |
Nycticorax nycticorax | |
Range of N. nycticorax Breeding range Year-round range Wintering range
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Synonyms | |
Ardea nycticorax Linnaeus, 1758 |
The black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) [or black-capped night heron[citation needed]], commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and North and South America. In Australasia it is replaced by the closely related Nankeen night heron (N. caledonicus), with which it has hybridised in the area of contact.