Night Heron
by Cheri Randolph
Title
Night Heron
Artist
Cheri Randolph
Medium
Photograph
Description
Captured at dusk in Houston, Texas is a Yellow-crowned Night Heron. This nocturnal heron of the southern swamps and coasts, can also be found breeding along wooded streams northward to Indiana and Illinois. I often see them along Buffalo Bayou as I am riding my bike early morning or early evening. This one was captured on my back fence as I watched from my deck, and seemingly had no fear as I approached with the camera. It almost posed giving me his "best side".
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 colonization.
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.
[edit]Behavior
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.
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.
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.
Uploaded
September 16th, 2012
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Viewed 261 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/27/2024 at 9:22 PM
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Comments (55)
Heidi Smith
Fantastic image, Cheri! It's as if he was posing for you! Voted
Cheri Randolph replied:
Heidi, I think you're correct - he was certainly showing me his "best" side :-) Thanks for voting!
Marcia Weller-Wenbert
Beautiful capture - love how he is standing on the fencing. Great details. v
Cheri Randolph replied:
Marcia, yes, he just seemed to be posing for me :-) Thanks for commenting and voting!
Angela Davies
Lovely capture and clarity! I have never seen this type of heron! Interesting! FV
Cheri Randolph replied:
Thanks, Angela. I didn't know much about them either, until I started noticing them along the Bayou when I rode my bike in the evening. They are pretty interesting. Appreciate your F/V!
Cheri Randolph
Nadine & Bob, Your feature of "Night Heron" in the USA Artist News is much appreciated!
Steve McKinzie
Very cool bird. I've only seen the bigger blue herons here in Oregon. Nice big eyes on yours...v
Cheri Randolph replied:
Steve, Thanks. I don't often get a chance to capture any wildlife. He just sort of "found" me instead of the other way 'round. Thanks for voting.
Lingfai Leung
This is a beautiful close up of this heron. I can see the eyes and feathers so clearly that looks like this bird is standing right in front of me. voted/fave Cheri.
Cheri Randolph replied:
Lingfai, I also was amazed at the detail when I looked at it. I was lucky that the bird was almost posing for me. Appreciate your nice compliment & v/f!
Debbie Hart
Voted and my new favorite!
Cheri Randolph replied:
Debbie, I am very complimented that you would select this one from my gallery and list it as one of your favorites. Thanks!