BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON

The Black-crowned Night-Heron is a chunky heron with its stocky, short-legs and short-neck. Both sexes have similar plumage. It appears hunched over with its head usually tucked down into its shoulders in flight and at rest, rarely extending it. Its feathers are gray and white with a specific black cap and a pair of white plumes that extend from the back of the head. Both sexes have matching plumage. During mating season, the black feathers from the head and back radiate a bluish-green gloss and the legs become red.

The adult Black Crowned Heron has red eyes with yellow legs, a black bill and black crown. Its back is black with a white on its face, throat, part of its neck, chest and belly. The herons blue-gray wings adorn this fine bird during reproduction.

The juvenile black crowned heron has eyes, colored yellow to amber and their legs appear a dull gray in color. The youngster displays a yellow base to its bill and the brown head, neck, chest and belly are streaked with buff and white. The wings and back are darker brown with large white spots at the tips of the feathers.

The young herons attain full adult plumage in its third year. First-year birds are similar to juveniles, but have less extensive spotting on upper wings and a dark cap. Second-year birds resemble the adult, but have a brown neck and wings with darker brown cap and back.

People spot the Black-Crowned Night-Heron mostly near the Great Lakes. It flies over head at dusk in an elegant manner. You can identify this species as a night-heron by the chunky body and broad, rounded wings. The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is a close relative.

The black-crowned night heron has a low guttural call and mostly hear them at night.

This bird is a nocturnal and a noisy heron. While "day" herons and egrets are roosting during the night, the Black-crowned Night-Heron is up feeding on fish, frogs, crustaceans and small mammals. Their digestive acids are so strong that bones consumed simply soften in their stomachs. The large eyes allow it to do most of its feeding at night. During the nesting season, night-herons being opportunists feed on the eggs and young in nearby colonies of birds like gulls and terns.

They usually nest in colonies among reeds in marshes, or up to 160 feet above the ground in trees. Their nests are apparently casual piles of reeds, sticks or twigs that may, over the years, become very awkward. North American birds nest over most of the United States north to southern Alberta and Manitoba.

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