Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species is known only from subfossil remains. It likely became Extinct during the early 17th century as a result of invasive predators and hunting for food by human settlers.
Population justification
No extant population remains.
Nyctanassa carcinocatactes is known from subfossil remains from Bermuda (Olson and Wingate 2006). Reports from 1610 refer to numerous herons fitting the likely description of this species (Hume and Walters 2012), but it probably became Extinct during the early 17th century shortly after colonisation by humans.
The species may have fed on large land crabs (Olson and Wingate 2006).
It was probably driven to extinction by invasive predators such as feral cats, hunting, and perhaps a shortage of prey (Hume and Walters 2012).
Text account compilers
Hermes, C., Taylor, J., Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Bermuda Night Heron Nyctanassa carcinocatactes. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/bermuda-night-heron-nyctanassa-carcinocatactes on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.