black-crowned night heron; night heron
A stocky heron species (Nycticorax nycticorax) active at night. The Japanese name is usually written in kana.
In the evening, black-crowned night herons appear by the riverside.
Katakana spelling is common for this bird name; usually written in kana.
Kanji spelling is rare; the bird is almost always written in kana.
Written 五位鷺, “fifth-rank heron.” The name is traditionally associated with the medieval tale that an emperor granted a heron the court rank 五位 after it allowed itself to be captured.