The Black-crowned Night Heron

The Black-crowned Night Heron is a stocky bird. They are 2 feet tall with the bulk of their height in their bodies rather than their legs. As their name implies, they have a black crown and back. The rest of their body is covered with white or gray plumage. The bill, neck, and legs are shorter than is commonly seen on other herons and egrets. Their eyes are a distinctive red and their legs are reddish pink during breeding season and yellow during the off season.

Immature Black-crowned Night Herons have a dull gray plumage on their heads, wings and backs with pale streaked plumage on their chest and belly. Their eyes are orange rather than the distinctive red and their legs are a yellowish-green.

The Black-crowned Night Heron inhabits fresh and salt-water wetlands throughout the world. They can be found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. The birds residing in cooler climes are migratory but those in tropical climates are permanent residents. The wetland habitats favored by the Black-crowned Night Heron includes riparian forests, weeded swamps, grasslands and marshes. During breeding season they form large colonies and nest in protected locations such as reed beds and tall grasses along the water's edge.

The Black-crowned Night Heron nests in colonies. The males begin their courtship by bowing to their potential mate. Along with the bowing, they rock from foot to foot, hiss, clap their bills, and stretch. Once a pair is formed, they spend time preening each other and using their bill to massage their mate's back, neck, and head.

The pair work together to build their nest. It's a flimsy structure of sticks, reeds, and twigs. It's usually placed 15 to 30 feet off the ground, just below the canopy. That way they have a better chance of spotting approaching predators.

The female will lay 3 to 5 pale blue eggs. The clutch is incubated for 24 to 26 days will both parents sharing the responsibility. The newly hatched young are fed by regurgitation. As they grow regurgitation is replace with smaller whole prey.

Around 3 weeks after hatching, the young are climbing out of the nest and exploring the nearby branches. They are a noisy brood and with other nests nearby, they can create quite a racket.

The young fledge around 6 weeks of age, but do not acquire their adult plumage for another year, and may not breed for another year or two after that.

The Black-crowned Night Heron feeds on aquatic invertebrates such as fish, lizards, frogs, and snakes. They will stand quietly, still as stone, and wait for its prey to move into range. They are opportunistic feeders and if there are nests of terns and gulls nearby, they will make a meal of the chicks. When in thegrasslands they stalk rodents such as voles and mice.

The Black-crowned Night Heron is a noisy bird with a loud, harsh squawk.