Black-crowned Night Heron

Adults are approximately 64 cm long and weigh 800 g . They have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey. These are short-necked and stout herons.

The Black-crowned Night Heron is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

Black-crowned Night Herons nest in colonies on platforms of sticks in a group of trees, or on the ground in protected locations such as islands or reedbeds. Three to eight eggs are laid. This heron is migratory in the northernmost part of its range, but otherwise resident (even in the cold Patagonia). The North American population winters in Mexico, the southern United States, Central America, and the West Indies, and the Old World birds winter in tropical Africa and southern Asia. More

* Black-crowned Night Heron on Animal Diversity Web * A guide to the birds of Costa Rica by Stiles and Skutch ISBN 0-8014-9600-4 * Herons and Egrets of the World by James Hancock ISBN 0-12-322725-9 * The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley ISBN 0-679-45122-6 External links - Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nycticorax nycticorax More

The Black-crowned Night Heron is one of the few nocturnal aquatic birds. Instead of heading for the roost at dusk, it starts foraging for its next meal. They are a noisy bird, but when in hunting mode, they stand quietly and wait for their prey to wander into striking distance. They dine on frogs, fish and other small invertebrates. They have also been known to plunder the nests of other herons, terns and gulls making a meal of whatever chicks and eggs it can find. More

The Black-crowned Night Heron (Aukuu in Hawaiian) is an attractive bird to watch. They look like dark silhouettes as they fly with steady beats of their broad wings. As nocturnal feeders, night herons are not be seen often by people. This heron has a stocky, chunky body with short, strong legs and neck, and large red eyes. The body of the black-crowned night heron looks as if it is hunched over, or squat shaped with its head usually tucked down into its shoulder. More

Black-crowned Night HeronThe black-crowned night heron is 23-28 inches tall. It has a wingspan of almost four feet. It is a medium-sized heron with a stocky body and short legs and neck. It has a black crown and back, gray wings and a white underside. Adults have red eyes and yellow legs and feet. In breeding season adults have two long white plumes on their heads. Females and males look alike, but females are a little smaller. More

In Florida we often found black-crowned night herons nesting in small numbers in the rookeries with other herons. Many of the rookeries examined on the coast of Texas contained a few pairs of this species, nesting in low situations in the shrubbery. On one island, in Galveston Bay, they were nesting in tall canes, where their nests were made wholly of the stems of dead canes. On Dressing Point Island, in Matagorda Bay, we found a fair-sized colony nesting on the dry ground among tufts of tall grass. More

Black-crowned Night Heron is a stocky heron with large head, short and thick neck and short legs. PROTECTION / THREATS / STATUS: Black-crowned Night Heron is relatively common or abundant is most parts of the range. As all species depending on wet areas, they are threatened by drainage of wetlands and changes in their habitat. More

The Black-crowned Night Heron has to compete with all of the incumbent shore birds for nesting sites and materials. Fortunately it is capable of nesting in trees and bushes if the conditions are right and if all populations are relatively stable. This competition becomes more severe when another species shows up on the scene and explodes in population. This is the case with the Double-crested Cormorant. More

* Black-crowned Night Heron Heron * Great Egret * Green Heron * Little Blue Heron * Wood Peckers * Pileated Woodpecker * Blackbirds * Red-winged Blackbird * Northern Oriole More

The Black-crowned Night Heron has a stocky body, with a short neck and legs. Adult night heron’s have a distinctive coloring, with a black cap and upper back, gray wings, rump and tail, and a white to pale gray underbelly. Its bill is stout and black, and its eyes are red. For most of the year, the legs of an adult night heron are yellow-green, but by the height of the breeding season, they turn pink. More

of the black-crowned night heron in a single giant sycamore, 7 feet thick at the base, 120 feet high and withaspread equal to its height. In another tree there were 17 great blue and 28 night heron nests. In this large colony of 700 nests those of the night heron were placed at the very upturned tips of the sycamore limbs or else in the willows and alders at a relatively short distance from the ground. Mr. More

The Black-crowned Night Heron (in Europe, often just Night Heron), Nycticorax nycticorax, is a medium-sized heron. The scientific name, Nycticorax, means "night raven", and refers to this species' nocturnal habits and harsh crow-like call. Description Adults are 64 cm long and weigh 800 g. They have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. These are short-necked and stout herons. More

Black-Crowned Night Heron is most active at night, and is best seen around dusk. When nesting, it will often congregate with other species of herons, but will keep its distance from them, forming a smaller group to themselves. More

The black-crowned night heron is a sturdy-looking heron with a short bill, neck, and legs. When perched, they have a distinguishing hunched posture with their heads drawn down to meet their shoulders. In flight, the black-crowned night heron curls its neck back so its head and back form a straight line, and its feet barely extend beyond its tail. More

weight in black-crowned night herons in San Francisco Bay. J. Toxicol. Environ. Health 19:383-392. Hoffman, D.J., G.J. Smith and B.A. Rattner. 1993. Biomarkers of contaminant exposure in common terns and black-crowned night herons in the Great Lakes. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 12:1095-1103. Hoffman, R.D. 1976. Mercury levels in a 21-year-old black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). Ohio J. Sci. 76:18. Hoffman, R.D. 1980. Total mercury in heron and egret eggs and excreta. Ohio J. Sci. 80:43-45. More

· Black-crowned night herons can fly up to 35 miles (56 km) per hour. Description Black-crowned night herons are stocky, short-necked birds with short legs in comparison to most other herons. They have black on the top of their head and back, grey wings, a long black bill and a white face and underbelly. They also have long white plumes extending from the black crest on their head. More

This is a photograph of the adult Black-crowned Night Heron at Wakodahatchee. Notice the two-tone bill, which may be a sign that this bird is still young. The immature plumage is kept into the third year, so three is a good guess at the age of this bird. Also notice the long plumes on the back of the head. This is part of the breeding plumage. PBCWUD This site is run with the approval and support of the Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department. More