Nankeen Night Heron

[RandF]

Does anyone know anything about the reported Nankeen Night Heron seen at Mona Vale in Chch, or was it a case of misidentification?

[Oscar Thomas]

=Nankeen Night-Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) (2)
- Reported Dec 13, 2022 11:14 by Lowell Young
- Mona Vale, Christchurch NZ-Canterbury (-43.5234,172.6086), Christchurch City, Canterbury
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=1 ... 172.608602
- Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S123937782
- Comments: "These two birds flew past us, went down stream toward the pond and vanished. The tops of their wings were light brown. Their backs were a darker than the upper surface of their wings. The black crowns of their heads was barely visible. The legs and feet were yellow."

The description matches that of Masked Lapwing so I'd be wary of the report, but worth contacting the observers for more details. I believe Nick Allen is the eBird reviewer for Canterbury.

[RandF]

Thanks Oscar

[andrewcrossland]

I’ve made enquires with parks staff at both Mona vale and the botanic gardens/Hayley park. Functions are held there regularly at dusk/night I believe so I’d expect any night herons to be noticed. Spur-winged plovers are occasional visitors

[NoahF]

Almost definitely an erroneous report by someone unfamiliar with New Zealand avifauna - an understandable mistake. The checklist also includes Grey Duck, but the attached photo is of a Grey x Mallard hybrid.