Yellow-crowned Night Heron
| Yellow-crowned Night Heron | |
|---|---|
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| Yellow-crowned night heron at a pond in Tarpon Springs, FL. | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Subclass: | Neornithes |
| Infraclass: | Neognathae |
| Superorder: | Neoaves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Ardeidae |
| Genus: | Nyctanassa |
| Species: | N. violacea |
| Binomial name | |
| Nyctanassa violacea (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Nycticorax violaceus |
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The Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea, formerly placed in the genus Nycticorax), also called the American Night Heron or squawk, is a fairly small heron, similar in appearance to the Black-crowned Night Heron. It is found throughout a large part of the Americas, especially (but not exclusively) in warmer coastal regions; an example occurrence is the Petenes mangroves of the Yucatan.
A related heron, the Bermuda Night Heron, was endemic to Bermuda, but became extinct following human colonisation.
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Description [edit]
Adults are about 61 cm long and weigh 625 g. They 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. Juveniles resemble young Black-crowned Night-Herons, being mainly brown flecked with white or gray.
Behavior [edit]
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 or Ontario after the breeding season.
Feeding [edit]
These birds stalk their prey or wait in ambush at the water's edge, mainly at night. They mainly eat crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, aquatic insects and small fish.
Breeding [edit]
Their breeding habitat is swamps and marshes from the eastern United States to north-eastern South America. They often nest in colonies, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. They lay 3–5 pale blue-green eggs.
Culinary use [edit]
Referred to as Gros bec (from the French meaning thick-billed), or commonly referred to as Night Heron, the birds were eaten as a form of game in Cajun cuisine. Poachers sometimes raided nests for the breast meat of young birds, a practice that could destroy an entire rookery. Ibis (bec croche) was also eaten. Killing these wild birds is now illegal.[1]
References [edit]
- BirdLife International (2008). Nyctanassa violacea. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 4 February 2009. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern.
- World Wildlife Fund. 2010. Petenes mangroves. eds. Mark McGinley, C.Michael Hogan & C. Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
- Stiles and Skutch. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
Gallery [edit]
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Flying
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Yellow-crowned Night Heron chick in Texas
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Immature in the Galápagos Islands
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Juvenile, Galápagos Islands
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Beach in Boca Raton, Fl.
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References [edit]
- ^ bec meat was a delicacy Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser
External links [edit]
- Bermuda Audubon Society.
- Bermuda Online: Bermudian Fauna.
- Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo Biodiversity Project.
- Field Guide Page on Flickr
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nycticorax violaceus |
- Stamps bird-stamps.org (with RangeMap)
- Yellow-crowned Night Heron on the Internet Bird Collection
