Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

The Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax violaceus) is a smaller heron, similar in appearance to the Black-crowned Night Heron.

Adults have a white crown and back with the remainder of the body grayish, red eyes and short yellow legs. They have a white stripe below the eye. Youngsters resemble their young counterparts among the Black-crowned Night-Herons, being mainly brown flecked with white or grey.

Their breeding habitat is swamps and marshes in the eastern United States to north-eastern South America. They are often colonial and usually nest on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs.

In warmer locations, some are permanent residents; others migrate to Central America and the West Indies. They may occasionally wander north to the lower Great Lakes after the breeding season.

These birds stalk their prey or stand still at the water’s edge and wait to ambush prey, mainly at night. They mainly eat crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, aquatic insects and small fish.