How to Identify aYellow-crowned Night-Heron
Nyctanassa violacea · 22–27.2 in (56–69 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Smooth gray body, black face with a broad white cheek stripe and a creamy-yellow crown; red eyes. Sexes look alike.
Female
Identical to the male in the field.
Male photo: Hobbyfotowiki / Wikimedia, CC0 · Second photo: Chuck Homler (FocusOnWildlife.Me) / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Field marks
- Black face split by a bold white cheek patch
- Pale yellow-white crown stripe
- Longer legs and neck than a Black-crowned Night-Heron
- Heavy black bill
Similar species
What it sounds like
A sharp, high, barking "kyow", higher than a Black-crowned Night-Heron’s.
Behaviour that gives it away
Feeds almost entirely on crabs and crayfish, cracking their shells with a heavy bill built for the job.
Habitat & range
Coastal marshes, wooded swamps, mangroves and tidal creeks in the Southeast.
When you'll see it
Depending on where in southeastern and eastern North America you are, it is present all year and a summer visitor that arrives to breed.
What it eats
Crabs and crayfish above all, plus insects and small fish.
Did you know?
Its diet is so dominated by crustaceans that its bill is noticeably heavier than other night-herons’, built for cracking shells.
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