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Bird name:

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Nyctanassa violacea

Order

CICONIIFORMES

Family

Bitterns, Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)

Code 4

YCNH

Code 6

NYCVIO

ITIS

174842

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

Least-Concern

The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron has an enormous range reaching up to roughly 4.2 million square kilometers. This bird can be found much of Central America, the Caribbean and throughout North America as well. It also has a vagrant population in Berumda. This species appears in forested areas and wetlands such as bogs, marshes, swamps and freshwater lakes, and also in intertidal areas and salt marshes. The global population of this bird is estimated to be around 85,000 to 160,000 individuals. It is not believed that the population trends for this species will soon approach the minimum levels that could suggest a potential decline in population. Due to this, population trends for the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron have a present evaluation level of Least Concern.

VOTE: ILLUSTRATION

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SUMMARY

Overview

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: Medium-sized, stocky heron with gray body and brown-and-white mottled wings. Face is black and white; crown is pale yellow and sweeps back as a plume. Eyes are large and red. Bill is heavy and black. Legs and feet are yellow. Direct flight with steady, deep wing beats.


Range and Habitat

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: Breeds from southern New England to Florida and west to Texas, mainly near coasts but in the interior north to Minnesota and along Mississippi River and its larger tributaries. Spends winters along the Gulf Coast and on Atlantic coast north to South Carolina. Preferred habitats include wooded swamps and coastal thickets.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to Call

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Voice Text

Generally silent

INTERESTING FACTS

  • The Yellow-crowned Night Heron is listed as threatened in the state of New Jersey and endangered in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
  • Occasionally it will prey on small turtles; its stomach secretes an acid capable of dissolving the shells.
  • Unlike other night herons, it is active during the day as well as at night.
  • A group of herons has many collective nouns, including a "battery", "hedge", "pose", "rookery", and "scattering" of herons."

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

TERMINOLOGY

CREDITS

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Santiago Cornejo

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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CrownX
The crown is the top part of the birds head.
FaceX
The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX