Gorsachius leuconotus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The white-backed night heron (Calherodius leuconotus) is a species of medium-sized heron in the family Ardeidae, found in sub-Saharan Africa. The white-backed night heron was formally described in 1827 by the German naturalist Johann Wagler under the binomial name Ardea leuconotus. He specified the type locality as Senegambia. This species was formerly placed with the Japanese night heron and the Malayan night heron in the genus Gorsachius. Based on the results of a molecular genetic study published in 2023, it is now the only species placed in the resurrected genus Calherodius that had originally been introduced in 1855 by the French naturalist Charles Bonaparte. Bonaparte specified the type species as Ardea cucullata Lichtenstein which is now considered to be a junior synonym of Ardea leuconotus Wagler. The species is treated as monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The white-backed night heron is 50–55 cm (20–22 in) in length with a black head and a short crest, or prominent feather display on the top of its head. The heron has large red eyes with white-ringed markings around them, and the lores, or the region behind the eye, are a pale yellow... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 3 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 4 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 5 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 6 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 7 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 9 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-Backed Night-Heron sighting in Liwonde National Park on a given day, based on 34 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 129th most-seen of the 267 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-Backed Night-Heron in Liwonde National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April and August, the lowest months. Those are among Liwonde National Park's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain a month against 300 mm in January.
Between 4 and 7 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-Backed Night-Heron sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
2nd of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate White-Backed Night-Heron sightings, Liwonde National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Lake Mburo National Park (Uganda, about 20%).
Same family: Ardeidae
The closest relatives of the White-Backed Night-Heron that you can see in Liwonde National Park (family Ardeidae, Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) are Great Egret (about 70%), Cattle Egret (about 60%) and Grey Heron (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-Backed Night-Heron is recorded against all the birds logged in Liwonde National Park (34 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.
