Bonin Nankeen Night Heron

Bonin Rotrückenreiher (Nycticorax caledonicus crassirostris )

The Bonin Rotrückenreiher (Nycticorax caledonicus crassirostris ), also referred to as bonuses herons, is an extinct subspecies of Rotrückenreihers (Nycticorax caledonicus ). He came before the Bonin Islands. Nicholas Aylward Vigors described this bird in 1839, according to reports by Heinrich von Kittlitz and Captain Frederick William Beechey, with the HMS Blossom made ​​a stop in front of the Bonin Islands in 1828.

Features

The Bonin Rotrückenreiher reached a size of 61 centimeters. The black skull was characterized by two long white plumes, reaching down to the back. The back was cinnamon brown, the underside was white. Feet and legs were orange. The beak was black. From Rotrückenreiher he distinguished by its thicker and straighter bill.

Occurrence and habitat

The distribution of the Bonin - Rotrückenreihers was confined to the islands of Chichi -jima and Nakōdo -jima in the Ogasawara Archipelago. Its habitat were beaches and marshes, where he built his nest in low trees.

Food

His food consisted of fish, insects, and probably little turtles.

Extinction

The main reasons for its extinction were most likely the predation by rats, dogs and feral cats as well as overhunting because of the plumes that were commonly used in the milliners in Imperial Japan. The last specimen was collected in 1889 on Nakōdo -jima. Six Museum copies are known, of which there are one each in London and Bremen, and four in Saint Petersburg.