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Black-crowned night-heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
species of Ardeidae


img. 566 ad. © Steffen Fahl

img. 884 juv. © Heinz Frehner
1st cy
ad.
number longest
primary 10 per wing 214.0 - 236.0mm n=7
P7 (57%) P8 (43%)
secondary 18 per wing 165.0 - 192.0mm n=7
S2 (29%) S2=S3=S9 (14%) S1 (14%) S12 (14%) S2=S4 (14%) S4 (14%)
retrix 12
104.5 - 127.5mm n=5
R5 (40%) R3 (20%) R2 (20%) R1 (20%)
wing length1 hand-wing-index1,2 (HWI) primaries-index wing length/longest primary ratio hand-wing-index/primaries-index ratio
258 - 334mm n=10 31 - 34% n=8 20 - 25% n=6 no data available no data available
detailed information

The wing length is measured on the flattened and straightened wing ("maximum chord") from the carpal joint to the tip of the longest primary feather, the so-called "Kleinschmidt-method".

combined data from:
Avonet1: 258 - 334mm n=10

The hand-wing-index, introduced by Kipp 1959, is calculated as the ratio of the hand length (difference between the length of the longest primary and the first secondary) to the wing length.

combined data from:
Avonet1: 31 - 34% n=8,
The primaries-index is calculated as the ratio of the longest primary feather length to the first (outermost) secondary. It is the equivalent of the hand-wing index for feather measurements. The wing length/longest primary ratio is calculated as the ratio of the wing length to the length of the longest primary feather. The hand-wing-index/primaries-index ratio is calculated as the ratio of the hand-wing index to the primaries-index.
1 Tobias, J. A., et al. (2022). AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds.
2 Kipp, Friedrich A.: "Der Handflügel-Index als flugbiologisches Maß", erschienen in "Vogelwarte - Zeitschrift für Vogelkunde", 1959, Band 20, Heft 1



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ad. female
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country allocations

extant

Afghanistan · Albania · Algeria · Angola · Anguilla · Antigua and Barbuda · Argentina · Armenia · Aruba · Australia (vagrant) · Austria · Azerbaijan · Bahamas · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belarus · Belgium · Belize · Benin · Bermuda · Bhutan · Bolivia, Plurinational State of · Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Botswana · Brazil · Brunei Darussalam · Bulgaria · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cabo Verde (vagrant) · Cambodia · Cameroon · Canada · Cayman Islands · Central African Republic · Chad · Chile · China · Cocos (Keeling) Islands (vagrant) · Colombia · Comoros · Congo · Congo, The Democratic Republic of the · Costa Rica · Côte d'Ivoire · Croatia · Cuba · Curaçao · Cyprus · Czechia · Denmark (vagrant) · Djibouti (vagrant) · Dominica · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · Egypt · El Salvador · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Falkland Islands (Malvinas) · Faroe Islands (vagrant) · Finland (vagrant) · France · French Guiana · French Southern Territories (vagrant) · Gabon · Gambia · Georgia · Germany · Ghana · Gibraltar (vagrant) · Greece · Greenland (vagrant) · Grenada · Guadeloupe · Guam · Guatemala · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Guyana · Haiti · Honduras · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland (vagrant) · India · Indonesia · Iran, Islamic Republic of · Iraq · Ireland (vagrant) · Israel · Italy · Jamaica · Japan · Jordan · Kazakhstan · Kenya · Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (vagrant) · Korea, Republic of · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan (vagrant) · Lao People's Democratic Republic · Lebanon · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya (vagrant) · Liechtenstein (vagrant) · Luxembourg (vagrant) · Macao · Madagascar · Malawi · Malaysia · Maldives (vagrant) · Mali · Malta · Martinique · Mauritania · Mayotte · Mexico · Micronesia, Federated States of · Moldova, Republic of · Mongolia (vagrant) · Montenegro · Montserrat · Morocco · Mozambique · Myanmar · Namibia · Nepal · Netherlands · Nicaragua · Niger · Nigeria · North Macedonia · Northern Mariana Islands · Norway (vagrant) · Oman · Pakistan · Palau · Palestine, State of · Panama · Paraguay · Peru · Philippines · Poland · Portugal · Puerto Rico · Qatar · Romania · Russian Federation · Rwanda · Saint Barthélemy · Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (vagrant) · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Pierre and Miquelon (vagrant) · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Sao Tome and Principe (vagrant) · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Serbia · Seychelles (vagrant) · Sierra Leone · Singapore · Slovakia · Slovenia · Somalia · South Africa · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands · South Sudan · Spain · Sri Lanka · Sudan · Suriname · Sweden (vagrant) · Switzerland · Syrian Arab Republic · Taiwan, Province of China · Tajikistan · Tanzania, United Republic of · Thailand · Timor-Leste · Togo · Trinidad and Tobago · Tunisia · Türkiye · Turkmenistan · Turks and Caicos Islands · Uganda · Ukraine · United Arab Emirates · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (vagrant) · United States of America · Uruguay · Uzbekistan · Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of · Viet Nam · Virgin Islands, British · Virgin Islands, U.S. · Western Sahara · Yemen · Zambia · Zimbabwe ·
source: IUCN 2025. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2025-1 <www.iucnredlist.org>
assessment data: |

Pelicans

subspecies

conservation status

  • CITES
    not listed
  • Regulation (EG) Nr. 865/2006
    not listed
  • German Federal Nature Conservation Act §44
    strictly protected