Herons · Pelicans and herons
Black-crowned Night Heron
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Nycticorax nycticorax
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About the species
Adults look mostly black on the crown and back, with pale grey wings, white underparts, and red eyes. A short, dark bill and a pair of long white plumes at the back of the head give it a face that changes in courtship.
It often waits motionless at the water’s edge, then strikes quickly at prey, mostly around dawn, dusk, or at night. Outside the breeding season it rests in trees or bushes, and its call is a rough “quok.”
It uses wetlands, reedbeds, wooded edges, and city watersides, and it nests in colonies in trees or on protected ground. Fish and frogs make up much of its diet, but it also takes insects and other small animals. In northern areas it moves south for winter, while many populations stay year-round.
Where to find
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Along quiet pond and canal edges — especially by reedbeds at dawn, when the Black-crowned Night Heron stands motionless at the waterline in ambush.
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In mature parks with big old trees, daytime sightings often come from a hunched shape in the canopy and a rough "quok" from above.
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Near reed islands and shallow flooded margins, where it hunts in still, fishy water at dusk.
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On slow rivers with tangled banks and urban floodplain pools after rain — watch for a statue-still heron at the edge, then a sudden spear-like strike.
