WATERBIRD 53/60 - Malayan Night Heron

I have  been looking for this lifer in Sg Perdik since 2 years back when it was sighted  there. The  bird has been a frequent  visitor to Penang Botanical Garden. I did not manage to get some free time to fly out there then.  Once I heard of the news of the latest sighting in November 2016 at my doorstep of Hulu Langat  a 40 minutes ride from KL I did not hesitate to try my luck to see this rarity. This one I saw is a Juvenile. The immature is greyish-brown above with black and white spots; underparts are buff with brown spots and bars. An Adult mature Malayan Night-Heron is  about 47 cm in length.  The crown is black, with black crest extending to the nape.  The upperparts are dark reddish-brown with fine streaks.  The eye ring is light blue.  Wings are black, fading outward to reddish-brown.  Primary feather tips are white.  The face is reddish-brown; the chin and upper breast are paler.  The yellowish-brown breast has a central row of black streaks.   During migration you seldom hear their usual call which sound like  "oo  oo" ?

The Malayan Night Heron is a  species inhabit wooded streams, marshes, swamps, ponds and lakes in subtropical and tropical jungle forest. They are partially migrant from India or North-east Asian countries. In Peninsula Malaysia it can be sighted in jungle fringes over shaded grassland near shaded marshes, streams. They are nocturnal bird. It is solitary forager that feeds by walking slowly at the edges of water, fields and other feeding areas. Most observations are of its feeding in the open, but it is likely it feeds primarily unobserved under cover. In feeding on earthworms, it probes them from the soil.   

Malayan Night-Heron is a shy, rare bird.   If in alarm state i t defends itself with raised crest, open wings, and stabbing at the opponent. During the day, it roosts well hidden in reed, bamboo, and other dense vegetation. The diet is little studied. It eats terrestrial food, particularly earthworms and beetles but also mollusks, lizards, frogs, rarely small fish. 

The winter visitor tends to stays awhile at a place if food is abundance. With the rainy season here in Selangor I am sure there are plenty of grub of frogs crickets and grasshopper and earthwork here so I believe it will stay put for some time unless it is too disturbed. 

In some places Malayan Night-Heron is also known as Tiger Bittern. I really wonder why they are called Malayan Night Heron whilst they are not resident here. pondering...........