Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Nyctanassa violacea
ORDER: PELECANIFORMES
FAMILY: ARDEIDAE
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern
A nocturnal heron of the southern swamps and coasts, the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron can also be found breeding along wooded streams northward to Indiana and Illinois.
Appearance
Herons
Adult Description
- Medium-sized rather stocky heron.
- Black face and bill, with white cheek.
- Yellowish crown stripe.
- Gray body.
- Legs yellow.
Immature Description
Brown with tiny white spots on the wings and narrow, indistinct streaks on the underparts. Bill black.
Field MarksHelp
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Adult
- Cream-colored stripe on crown, thinner stripe below eye on black face
- Long yellow legs
- Red iris
- Slaty blue-gray body with "shaggy" feathers on back and wings.
- © Stephen Pollard, Fort Bend County, Texas, July 2010
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Immature
- Long neck
- Thick, dagger-like black bill
- Body grayish brown with thin white streaks on neck, small white spots on wings
- Red iris
- Long, yellow-green legs
- © Bob Baker, Chincoteague NWR, Assateague Island, Virginia, September 2007
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Adult catching crab
- Bold buff and black striped pattern on head
- Long white plumes extend from back of head in breeding adults
- Blue-gray body with "shaggy" feathers on back and wings
- Long neck
- Thick black bill
- © Phillip Simmons, Key Vista Park, Holiday, Florida, January 2011
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Adult
- Breeding adults have long white plumes extending from back of the head
- Stout black bill
- Long yellow legs
- Bold buffy stripe on crown, more yellow towards bill
- Thinner buffy stripe below eye on otherwise black face
- © Rene Odeide, Parque Central, San Juan, Puerto Rico, December 2010
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Immature
- Thin white streaks on neck, with small white spots and white edges on wings
- Long green-yellow legs
- Thick black bill
- Red iris
- © Carlos Escamilla, Laredo, Texas, September 2010
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Adult breeding
- Wispy white plumes extend from back of crown in breeding adults
- Long yellow legs
- Long neck
- Long, silvery-gray neck
- Shaggy darker feathers on back and wings
- © Laurel Williams/GBBC, Miami, Florida
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Immature
- Long neck with thin white streaks
- Red iris
- Stout black bill
- Small, pale spots on wings and back
- © John Reeves/GBBC, Houston, Texas
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Immature transitioning to adult
Similar Species
Juvenile
- © Rth_Baum, La Mirada Regional Park, California, March 2009
Adult
- © Kelly Azar, Chester County, Pennsylvania, April 2011