Malay Night Heron (Gorsachius melanolophus) | Details

Malay Night Heron Gorsachius melanolophus

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
Christidis, L.; Boles, W. E. 2008. Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Near Threatened

Species attributes

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	10,400,000 km²
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	12,700,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1300-13000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	unknown	-	-	-
Generation length	6.7 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is estimated to number c.2,000-20,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2006), roughly equivalent to 1,300-13,000 mature individuals. National population sizes have been estimated at c.100-10,000 breeding pairs, c.50-1,000 individuals on migration and c.50-1,000 wintering individuals in Taiwan and c.100-10,000 breeding pairs in Japan (Brazil 2009).

Trend justification: The population trend is difficult to determine because of uncertainty over the extent of threats to the species.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin
Bangladesh	extant	native
Brunei	extant	native
Cambodia	extant	native
China (mainland)	extant	native
Christmas Island (to Australia)	extant	vagrant
India	extant	native
Indonesia	extant	native
Japan	extant	native
Laos	extant	native
Malaysia	extant	native
Myanmar	extant	native
Nepal	extant	native
Palau	extant	vagrant
Philippines	extant	native
Singapore	extant	native
Sri Lanka	extant	native
Taiwan, China	extant	native
Thailand	extant	native
Vietnam	extant	native

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Land	marginal	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	marginal	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	non-breeding
Altitude	800 - 1800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Malay Night Heron Gorsachius melanolophus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/malay-night-heron-gorsachius-melanolophus on 18/12/2024.
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 18/12/2024.