Black-crowned Night Heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
Aves
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- 15-21 yrs
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Activity
- Nocturnal
- Social
- Colony
- Biome
- Freshwater wetland
- Range
- Worldwide
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Camouflage
- Status
- Common
About
The Black-crowned Night Heron is a stocky, compact heron recognized by its bold black crown and back contrasting with pale gray wings and white underparts. It is primarily a crepuscular and nocturnal hunter, stalking fish and invertebrates in shallow water—and has been documented dropping bait onto the water's surface to lure prey, one of the few recorded instances of tool use in birds.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
- 2.hatchlingA naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
- 3.juvenileA feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
- 4.adultFully grown with adult plumage.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Ardeidae
- Genus
- Nycticorax
- Species
- Nycticorax nycticorax