Black Crowned Night Heron

Photographed at Las Gallinas wildlife ponds and sanitation district, California. Night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) are characterized by heavy bodies, short thick necks, and, in this species, short legs. A common heron of fresh-water swamps and tidal marshes. The adult is dark-backed and entirely white below. Flies in loose flocks. Often inactive by day, roosting in trees. Fishes more at night. Call, a single kwawk, is most frequently heard at night. See the juvenile plumage below.

Copyright Barbara Samuelson 1996