White-backed Night Heron
The white-backed heron ( Nycticorax leuconotus ) is a medium- sized species of the heron family. It is found only in Africa. The species belongs to the night herons, but is still not quite decided whether it really belongs to the genus Nycticorax. Alternatively, an assignment to Gorsachius is conceivable. It is the white-backed heron is a widespread but nowhere common species The inventory number is not known.
Appearance
The white-backed heron reaches a height 50-56 centimeters. The head is black and has a short, dense bonnet on. The eyes are relatively large and are surrounded by a white field as well as by a striking yellow eye ring. The beak is black, the lower jaw base is yellow. The iris is yellow. The chin is white and the neck is red-brown. The back is dark brown black. The upper wing coverts are brown, the wings are gray black. The legs and feet are greenish yellow to orange. During the breeding season, the color of the iris changed yellow in a red, brown, amber and then. The consequence of this change of color is not described adequately.
Area of distribution and habitat
The white-backed heron is a type that occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. It breeds from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea- Bissau on the Ivory Coast and Nigeria, Gabon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique to the north of Angola and eastern South Africa. The white-backed heron is considered sedentary. However, it is not excluded that it also migrates as a function of rainfall within its range.
The white-backed heron is a bound on forest heron that lives predominantly individually. It occurs everywhere where dense forest directly adjacent to the water. During the day it rests in dense swamp or forest vegetation and often sits high up in the trees.
Way of life
The white-backed heron is a predominantly nocturnal Art He seeks his food mostly at waters edge and in mud banks and in reed beds. Most of them will stay in the vicinity of dense vegetation. Both adult birds and young birds take to the pole position of bitterns, when they feel worried. His food spectrum is not yet sufficiently investigated. He eats, among other fish, amphibians, mussels and insects.
The propagation time is seasonally variable and usually coincides with the peak of the annual flooding. The nest usually consists of two to three eggs. The incubation period is 24 to 26 days. The young birds leave the nest until the age of six to seven weeks.