Sasagoi (English spelling) green-backed heron

Japanese: ササゴイ(笹五位) - ササゴイ（英語表記）green‐backed heron

A bird of the Heronidae family in the order Ciconiiformes. Total length is about 50 cm. Its back and shoulders are dark blue-green with a metallic sheen, and it has a crest on the back of its head. At first glance it resembles a night heron, but its body is much smaller and it lacks the long white ornamental feathers on the back of its head that night herons have. It is distributed widely around the world, and is a migratory bird in the temperate zone and north of the Northern Hemisphere. It migrates to Japan as a summer bird and breeds in Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and the Izu Islands. In winter, it migrates to southern China, Taiwan, the Philippines, and other places, but some spend the winter in southern Japan. It is a relatively solitary bird, and it rarely forms large flocks or breeds in large numbers.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

コウノトリ目サギ科の鳥。全長約50cm。背と肩が金属光沢を帯びた暗青緑色で，後頭に冠羽のあるサギ。一見ゴイサギに似ているが，体がずっと小さく，ゴイサギの後頭にある長い白い飾羽はない。世界に広く分布し，北半球の温帯以北では渡り鳥である。日本には夏鳥として渡来し，本州，四国，九州，伊豆諸島などで繁殖する。冬期は中国南部，台湾，フィリピンなどに渡るが，南日本で越冬するものもある。習性は比較的孤独性で，大きな群れをつくったり，多数の集団で繁殖することはほとんどない。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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