Early Bird? Or…Night Heron?

Lesser known than some of their “day” heron cousins, this little guy is one of the fewer ‘night owls’ of the heron family—only two residing in North America. The Yellow-crowned Night Heron looks nearly identical in many aspects, but doesn’t have as large of a range as their black-capped cousins. As one of the medium-sized members of the heron family, the black-crowned night heron forages at night to avoid competition from the rest that forage during the day. They’re pretty social and tend to nest together in trees during the day, but usually fly off to forage on their own come nighttime. When it comes to their foraging strategies, the black-crowned night heron has been known to occasionally use a ‘fish-baiting’ technique where they use things like seeds, live insects, and even sticks that they may modify to lure out their meal. If their plan doesn’t work, they have a varied diet that can consist of almost anything; like leeches, clams, rodents, or even eggs and smaller birds. Their digestive acids are so strong that they can even dissolve bones!

While you can’t see it on our little friend here, when this little one matures it will get beautiful gray and white feathers, as well as black on its head and down its back, plus a few long strand-like plumes that they can use in greeting each other. They’re really cool looking, so check out the special feature at the bottom of the post! Though they can be kind of funny looking if you see them hunched up with seemingly no neck, but they do stretch it out when looking for food.

Where to find:

Black-crowned night herons can be found on every continent, except Australia and Antarctica. During the day they can be found roosting in trees if you’re lucky and keep a close enough eye out. After resting during the day, they tend to come out around dusk to go out foraging through out the night.

Like other wading birds, these guys are usually found near various wetland habitats, but can even be found foraging for food at landfills.

For the most part, black-crowned night herons aren’t in too much trouble yet, but many studies have shown their populations are decreasing thanks to pollution and habitat loss.

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For those curious what a mature Black-crowned Night Heron looks like. My Texas Master Naturalist mentor and chapter-mate Joyce A. Tipton Images allowed me to feature one of her photos with you!