The White-eared Night Heron is a nocturnal heron with a pale stripe running from behind the eye along the cheek and throat. It lives in hill forests near water in parts of China and northeastern Vietnam.
Males have black head and nape plumes, pale stripes behind the eye and along the cheek and throat, and a broad black line down the side of the neck. Females have a less distinct head and neck pattern and pale spots on the back and wings.
It is active mainly at night and feeds on small fish, shrimps, and invertebrates. It is found in dense hill forest close to water.
It forages on the ground alone or in isolated pairs and roosts high in trees. Activity is mainly nocturnal, although daytime activity has also been reported.
The irises are yellow, and the lores and skin around the eye are yellow-green. The bill is dark, with a green-yellow tinge at the base of the lower bill.
Juveniles are brown rather than brown-black, with heavy buff or white spotting on the back and upperwings.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.