Nycticorax caledonicus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The nankeen night heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) is a heron that belongs to the genus Nycticorax and the family Ardeidae. Due to its distinctive reddish-brown colour, it is also commonly referred to as the rufous night heron. It is primarily nocturnal and is observed in a broad range of habitats, including forests, meadows, shores, reefs, marshes, grasslands, and swamps. The species is 55 to 65 cm (22 to 26 in) in length, with rich cinnamon upperparts and white underparts. The nankeen night heron has a stable population size, and is classified as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The nankeen night heron was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with herons, cranes and storks in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea caledonica. Gmelin based his description on the "Caledonian night heron" that had been described in 1875 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. The heron had been observed in September 1774 on the island of New Caledonia... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 4 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 10 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 13 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 14 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prague Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 2 | Tierpark Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Night Safari | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 4 | Singapore Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 5 | Lok Kawi Wildlife Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 6 | Perth Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Phillip Island Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Bird Paradise | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 9 | Rainforest Wild Asia | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 10 | Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | River Wonders | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 13 | Gorge Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | Albay Park and Wildlife | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 15 | Dreamland Nature and Adventure Park | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 16 | Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Rákosův pavilon | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 18 | Velemlokárium | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 19 | Ranger Red’s Zoo & Conservation Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Nankeen Night-Heron sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 713 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 39th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–July and September–November
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Nankeen Night-Heron in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 10% in March, the lowest month. Those are among Kakadu National Park's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against 350 mm in January. February has too few records to rate.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Nankeen Night-Heron sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Nankeen Night-Heron sightings, Kakadu National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Daintree National Park (Australia, about 20%) and Tangkoko Nature Reserve (Indonesia, about 10%).
Same family: Ardeidae
The closest relatives of the Nankeen Night-Heron that you can see in Kakadu National Park (family Ardeidae, Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) are intermediate egret (about 50%), Great Egret (about 50%) and Pied Heron (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Nankeen Night-Heron is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (713 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
