Thursday 8 December 2011

Yellow-crowned Night Heron


The Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea, formerly placed in the genus Nycticorax), also called the American Night Heron or squawk, is a fairly small heron, similar in appearance to the Black-crowned Night Heron. It is found throughout a large part of the Americas, especially (but not exclusively) in warmer coastal regions; an example occurrence is the Petenes mangroves of the Yucatan.

A related heron, the Bermuda Night Heron, was endemic to Bermuda, but became extinct following human colonisation.