Yellow-crowned Night Heron - Kalpoo's Bird Sanctuary Ibis Tours
Report

Contributor

Kalpoo's Bird Sanctuary Ibis Tours Media from this contributor Profile

Date

Location

Caroni Swamp
San Juan-Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 10.5966645, -61.4518547
Age
Not specified
Sex
Not specified

Observation details

The yellow-crowned night heron is a rather stocky wading bird, ranging from 55 to 70 cm (1 ft. 10 in–2 ft. 4 in) and from 650 to 850 g (1.43–1.87 lb.), the females being a little smaller than the males. The yellow-crowned night heron has a wingspan ranging from 101-112 cm. The neck, slim when extended, exposes its large head (compared to its body), with a large and heavy bill. The body and back are a smooth grey-blue, with a black scaled pattern on the wings. The long legs are yellow and turn coral, pink or red during courtship. The most characteristic part of the yellow-crowned night heron is the head: black and glossy, with white cheeks and a pale yellow crown going from the bill, between the eyes and to the back of the head, giving the bird its common name. Such colors make the face appear striped in a horizontal black-white-black-white pattern. Long, thin, white feathers grow to the back of the crown during mating season. The bill, also black, is thick and deeply set under the eyes which are dark orange or red. It takes about three years for yellow-crowned night herons to acquire the full physical appearance of adults. Before that, the young birds show signs of immaturity such as a brownish body, an overall greyish head, drab colors and spots and streaks on their plumage. Although the adults are easy to tell apart, juvenile yellow-crowned night heron can look very similar to juvenile black-crowned night heron. Yellow-crowned juveniles tend to stand straighter and have heavier bills and longer legs, and their spots and streaks are finer than those of the black-crowned. The yellow-crowned night heron eats mainly crustaceans (crabs and crayfish) as well as insects, some fish or worms. It can also feed on lizards, small rodents and small birds. The yellow-crowned night heron looks for shallow water to live in such as swamps and mangroves. One of the places they can been seen is in the Caroni Bird Sanctuary.

Technical information

Dimensions
2048 pixels x 1365 pixels
Original file size
610.88 KB