Birds of Vietnam, Bird Species in Vietnam

Cuc Phuong National Park, Ninh Binh, Vietnam

Let's join AdventureGreen on our bird quests to learn about the different birds and bird species in Vietnam. Here you can find out more about the birding spots that these bird species are found.

Butorides is a genus of small herons in the family Ardeidae. Butorides is from Middle English Butor "bittern" and Ancient Greek -oides, "resembling".
It contains three similar species which were formerly considered one species:
-the green heron or green-backed heron, Butorides virescens;
- the lava heron (Butorides sundevalli);
- and the striated heron, Butorides striatus.

1/ Striated heron (Cò xanh, Butorides striata) also known as mangrove heron, little green heron or green-backed heron

Malayan night heron 
(Cò tôm, vạc rừng, Gorsachius melanolophus), also known as Malaysian night heron and tiger bittern

The Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus), also known as Malaysian night heron and tiger bittern, is in the heron family Ardeidae and is distributed in southern and eastern Asia.
The bird species is found in India, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan.

Ardeidae, Ardea: the Latin word ardea meaning "heron".
Gorsachius: not clear as to the origin of the word.
Melanolophus is a combination of the Greek words melas (meaning "black") and lophos (meaning "crest"). Therefore, the name literally translates to "black crest" and is used for species with a black crest, such as the Malayan night heron, which is often called Gorsachius melanolophus. 

Gorsachius is a genus of Old World night herons typically found near water in forested regions.

1/ Malayan night heron (Cò tôm, vạc rừng, Gorsachius melanolophus), also known as Malaysian night heron and tiger bittern
2/ White-eared night heron (Vạc hoa, Gorsachius magnificus)
other scientific names: Oroanassa magnifica, Nycticorax magnificus

Eastern cattle egret (Ardea coromanda)
Formerly belonging to the genus Bubulcus:  Eastern cattle egret (Cò ruồi, Bubulcus coromandus)
The epithet coromanda refers to the Coromandel Coast of India.

The eastern cattle egret (Ardea coromanda) is a species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. 


Ardeidae, Ardea: the Latin word ardea meaning "heron".
The genus name Bubulcus is Latin for herdsman, referring to this species' association with cattle. 
"Coromandus, coromanda" is a Latinized name derived from the geographical name for the Coromandel Coast in southeastern India.

Western cattle egret (Ardea ibis)
Formerly belonging to the genus Bubulcus.

The western cattle egret (Ardea ibis) is a species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones.
The bird was originally native to parts of Asia, Africa and Europe; nowadays its distribution has expanded to much of the rest of the world.

The genus name comes from the Latin word ardea meaning "heron".
The word "ibis" comes from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of long-legged birds. While Latin gives us the direct word "ibis," it is originally derived from the Ancient Greek word îbis, which in turn came from the Egyptian word hbj. Therefore, in Latin, the meaning is directly "ibis," while in Greek, it is the same word îbis which refers to the bird. 

Purple heron (Diệc lửa, Ardea purpurea) 

The purple heron (Ardea purpurea) is a wide-ranging heron species. 
The bird breeds in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Palearctic.

The genus name comes from the Latin word ardea meaning "heron".
The specific epithet comes from Latin purpureus, "coloured purple".

Great-billed heron (Diệc Sumatra, Ardea sumatrana)

The great-billed heron (Ardea sumatrana) is a wading bird of the heron family, resident from southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Australia.

The genus name comes from the Latin word ardea meaning "heron".

The cattle egret (Bubulcus) is a cosmopolitan genus of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones.

The below two species have been moved to the genus Ardea. There is no more bird species in the genus Bubulcus

The genus contains two species: the western cattle egret and the eastern cattle egret. Some authorities regard them as a single species. 

1/ Western cattle egret (Cò ruồi, Bubulcus ibis)

2/ Eastern cattle egret (Cò ruồi, Bubulcus coromandus)

The genus name Bubulcus is Latin for herdsman, referring to this species' association with cattle. 

The name Anastomus is from the Ancient Greek anastomoō meaning "to furnish with a mouth" or "with mouth wide-opened".
The mandibles of these birds do not meet except at the tip, or there is a gap between the arched upper mandible and recurved lower mandible.

1/ Asian openbill or Asian openbill stork (Cò nhạn, Cò ốc, Anastomus oscitans)
The specific epithet oscitans is the Latin word for "yawning".

Ciconiiformes, Ciconiidae: from Latin ciconia for stork.

Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills belonging to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes.

Ciconiidae, Ciconia: the Latin word for "stork".

Ixobrychus is a genus of bitterns, a group of wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae.

Ardeidae, Ardea: the Latin word ardea meaning "heron".
The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ixias, a reed-like plant and brukhomai, to bellow.

A molecular phylogenetic study of the heron family Ardeidae published in 2023 found that Ixobrychus was paraphyletic, Ixobrychus was merged into the genus Botaurus.

1/ Black bittern (Cò hương, Botaurus flavicollis) 
2/ Cinnamon bittern (Cò lửa, Botaurus cinnamomeus) or chestnut bittern
3/ Yellow bittern (Cò lửa lùn, Botaurus sinensis)
4/ Von Schrenck's bittern or Schrenck's bittern (Cò nâu, Botaurus eurhythmus)

Intermediate egret, median egret, smaller egret or medium egret 
(Cò ngàng nhỏ, Ardea intermedia)
Some authorities classify the intermediate egret in its own monotypic genus, Mesophoyx, while others place it with the smaller egrets in Egretta.

The medium egret (Ardea intermedia), median egret, smaller egret or intermediate egret, is a medium-sized heron.


The genus name comes from the Latin word ardea meaning "heron".

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