Night-heron in Guangxi, China (1 Viewer)

I was surprised to happen upon a night heron in the subtropical forest on May 2. Elevation about 260m. Having only seen Black-crowned Night Heron in China before (and being quite familiar with this species), I immediately knew this was something different. The appearance was of a fairly uniformally cryptic speckled bird (immature, not adult) with a short, thick bill.. I only got to see it for about one second before it flew away. Upon some further inspection it seems Malayan Night Heron would be the most likely species: Would Japanese Night Heron even be a possibility this far west? I'm curious to know whether there are any differences in the habitat that these two species prefer or whether there are any other distinctive behavioral characteristics.

Mike

There are a few reports of Malayan Night Herons every spring/summer here in Hong Kong, Japanese Night Heron is a "once every twenty years" bird, and strictly a passage migrant.
I don't know of any real habitat preference differences, lurking in the woods matches my experience of MNH, but both MNH and JNH will feed on grass or ploughed ground if there are worms to be had.