The White-backed Night Heron has a white eye-ring and pale back plumes. It searches for food along riverbanks and shallows at night.
Adults have a dark face with a white eye-ring and white back plumes.
At night it walks along riverbanks, shallows, and reed beds while foraging. Recorded prey include fish, amphibians, mollusks, and insects.
It nests alone in low waterside trees, bushes, or reeds, building bulky platforms lined with finer sticks or reed pieces. Clutches range from two to five eggs, usually two or three, with incubation lasting 24–26 days.
The head is black with a short, thick crest. The bill is black with yellow at its lower base; the chin is white and the neck rufous-brown. The sexes look alike.
Juveniles have streaked dark-brown crowns and foreheads, with heavy white streaks and speckles on the buff-brown body.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.