{{Short description|Genus of birds}} {{See also|Nycticorax}} {{automatic taxobox | image = Yellow-crowned Night Heron (7345190292).jpg | image_caption = Yellow-crowned night heron (''N. violacea'') | taxon = Nyctanassa | authority = Stejneger, 1887 | type_species = ''Ardea violacea'' | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = ''N. violacea''<br/> {{extinct}}''N. carcinocatactes'' }}
'''''Nyctanassa''''' is a genus of night herons from the Americas, especially (but not exclusively) warmer coastal regions. They were formerly included in the genus ''Nycticorax'', but today all major authorities recognize them as distinct.
==Taxonomy== The genus ''Nyctanassa'' was introduced in 1887 by the Norwegian born zoologist Leonhard Stejneger to accommodate a single species, the yellow-crowned night heron, which is therefore the type species.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Stejneger | first=Leonhard | author-link=Leonhard Stejneger | year=1887 | title=Review of Japanese birds: V. Ibises, storks, and herons | journal=Proceedings of the United States National Museum | volume=10 | issue= 628| pages=271–319 [295, Footnote] | doi=10.5479/si.00963801.10-628.271 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7485577 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=227 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108867 }}</ref>
==Etymology== The genus name ''Nyctanassa'' combines the {{langx|grc|νύξ}} : {{grc-tr|νύξ}}, genitive {{lang|grc|νυκτός}} : {{grc-tr|νυκτός}} meaning "night" with {{lang|grc|άνασσα}} : {{grc-tr|άνασσα}} meaning "queen" or "lady".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=277 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n277/mode/1up }}</ref>
==Species== The genus contains the following two species, of which only one is still extant:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/pelicans/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=4 August 2024 }}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name!! Distribution |- |120px|| ''Nyctanassa violacea''|| Yellow-crowned night heron|| United States (South Florida, Gulf Coast, and eastern Texas), Mexico, Central America, Galápagos, the Caribbean and northern South America (south to Peru and Brazil) |- |120px|| ''Nyctanassa carcinocatactes''|| Bermuda night heron|| Bermuda; extinct |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite web | title = Check-list of North American Birds | year = 1998–2006 | url = http://www.aou.org/checklist/index.php3 | accessdate = 2007-07-29 | publisher = American Ornithologists' Union |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070723080155/http://www.aou.org/checklist/index.php3 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-07-23}} * {{Cite book | last = Holloway | first = Joel Ellis | year = 2003 | title = Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Scientific and Common Names | publisher = Timber Press | pages = 134 | isbn = 0-88192-600-0}} * {{Cite web | title = The Internet Bird Collection | publisher = Handbook of the Birds of the World | url = http://www.hbw.com/ibc/ | accessdate = 2007-07-29}} * Peterson, Alan P. (Editor). 1999. [http://www.zoonomen.net Zoological Nomenclature Resource (Zoonomen)]. Accessed 2007-7-29. * Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, T. S. Schulenberg, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer. [Version 2007-07-29.] ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20090302073659/http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html A classification of the bird species of South America]''. American Ornithologists' Union. Accessed 2007-04-10.
{{Pelecaniformes genera|A.|state=collapsed}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q794868}}
Category:Nyctanassa * Category:Bird genera
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