The Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is a spectacular bird found throughout most of the Americas with a preference for the warm, coastal regions. Although, who doesn’t prefer nice sandy beaches, right? The particular bird is also known as the American Night Heron or simply as the Squawk, which is fun to say and probably has something to do with the sound these birds make, however, I am not 100% certain of this. The Yellow-Crowned Night Heron had a relative known as the Bermuda Night Heron but this unfortunate bird became extinct as humans colonized their home. Hopefully our featured animal has finished grieving the loss of their cousin and doesn’t mind us poking around to catch a glimpse of them.
Not Your Average Heron
Typically, when I think of a Heron, I picture groups of very large, birds wading around in the shallow water. However, this particular species is fairly small with an average weight of only 625 grams (1.3 pounds). This doesn’t stop them from wading around in the water though as they are often found near swamps or coastal areas. Much like other herons, the Yellow Crowned variety will usually nest in colonies with their homes being constructed on a platform of sticks, which is nestled in the trees or shrubs. Once these birds find a nice place to live, they tend to keep it , with some nesting sites being used repeatedly for over 20 years. I am guessing they have the mortgage paid off just in time to find a new place to live.
Life Isn’t Fair
When not building nests, the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron will head out to practice their stalking skills. Don’t worry, they aren’t stalking their ex-heron friend, but they are sneaking around looking for mollusks, fish, crustaceans, insects and of course the odd frog. If stalking doesn’t work, they will simply wait in the bushes and ambush their prey as they come sauntering (or swimming) by. Either way, the hunting strategies of these birds don’t seem to be very fair for a poor unsuspecting frog or fish. I guess life in the wild isn’t alway fair, right?
Life Isn’t Fair – Part II
Speaking of fair, the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron was hunted during the 18 and 1900’s since their mating feathers were a big hit amongst humans. Since then, the hunting has ceased but unfortunately, we have gone in and destroyed their habitat. You know those homes they stay in for 20 years….well, they are getting destroyed. Luckily, the population of these spectacular birds are mostly stable but who knows how long that will last if we continue to move into their coastal habitat.
