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The white-faced heron (''Egretta novaehollandiae'') also known as the white-fronted heron,〔 and incorrectly as the grey heron,〔 or blue crane, is a common bird throughout most of Australasia, including New Guinea, the islands of Torres Strait, Indonesia, New Zealand, the islands of the Subantarctic, and all but the driest areas of Australia. It is a relatively small heron, pale, slightly bluish-grey, with yellow legs and white facial markings. It can be found almost anywhere near shallow water, fresh or salt, and although it is prompt to depart the scene on long, slow-beating wings if disturbed, it will boldly raid suburban fish ponds. ==Taxonomy== The species was originally described by ornithologist John Latham in 1790. It was historically considered to be closely related to ''Ardea'' but for some time it was placed in its own genus—''Notophoyx''—because of the absence of the plumes typical in that genus.〔 In his review of the family Ardeidae, American ornithologist Walter J. Bock placed the white-faced heron into ''Ardea'', holding it to be related to the white-necked heron, and synonymised ''Notophoyx''. Similarly, Swedish naturalist Kai Curry-Lindahl felt the species was a dwarf member of the genus ''Ardea''. Robert B. Payne and Christopher J.Risley placed the white-faced heron in the genus ''Egretta'' due to its skeletal anatomy resembling egrets more than ''Ardea'' herons. They noted that Bock had not given reasons why he had placed the species in ''Ardea'', and felt its closest relative was ''Egretta caerulea'' on account of plumage and skull similarities. Using DNA-DNA hybridization in a 1987 study, Frederick Sheldon confirmed the white-faced heron was a member of the egret clade. Subspecies ''E. n. novaehollandiae'' and ''E. n. parryi'' in Australia, ''E. n. nana'' from New Caledonia and ''E. n. austera'' from Irian Jaya have previously been described, but are now not recognised taxonomically.〔 Appearance and behaviour are more closely related to those in the genus ''Egretta''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「White-faced heron」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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