Rufous Night Heron

The Rufous Night Heron is also called the Nankeen Night Heron which got its name from the Chinese City Nanking. Nanking originally produce a brownish yellow cotton fabric called "Nankeen" where it has the same color as the breast of the bird, and the word rufous means reddish brown which has its the feather color.

Scientifically named Nycticorax caledonicus, Rufous Night Herons stand frail and awkward.They had  had a reddish brown wings; light brown chest; black crown on the head; and a yellow colored feet and legs. This herons had a slouching posture because of their large head and short neck.

A Rufous Night Heron a dead branch above a river.

The Rufous Night Heron looks weak at daytime. It's because it is more of a night bird and tends to be on the go at night time. It finds its habitat on dead branches with a body of water underneath and mostly in isolated areas of a river, creek or lake covered with tall grasses and dead bushes.  On the wild, this bird is hardly to be seen during daytime. Being nocturnal,it can be found after twighlight preying on fishes, tadpoles, frogs, small reptiles, insects  and some crustaceans. 
 

The Rufous Night Heron is commonly found in Australia and places in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Adults of this bird stands 2 feet tall. They breed on cool seasons starting September and often ends on late March or early April. They can lay up to five colored light green eggs with an incubation period of 22 days.Fledging period of newly hatched chicks reached up to almost 2 months.

In Cebu Zoo, a pair of these herons can be found in a cage with the male slightly larger than the female.

A pair of Rufous Night Heron in an actual photo shot in Cebu Zoo.