Yellow-crowned Night-heronA yellow-crowned night-heron plucks a small crab from the weeds of shallow pool. (Photo David A. Murray)

The yellow-crowned night-heron is one of two species of night-herons; the other night-heron is the black-crowned night-heron.

The bird family Ardeidae is comprised of sixty-four species of herons and bitterns. Of these sixty-four species, twelve species breed in North America. Herons represent the most commonly recognized birds in this family, with the great blue heron topping the list of familiar species. One of the far less familiar heron species in this family is the yellow-crowned night-heron.

Herons and bitterns are large to medium sized wading birds. Many of the birds in this family have long slender necks and beaks, and most utilize their long legs and beak to facilitate feeding in shallow water. However, the yellow-crowned night-heron does not fit these typical characteristics.

The yellow-crowned night-heron is shorter than many of the other heron species, and generally stands at a height of about two feet. Its legs and feet are a yellowish-orange color, and like other herons, their toes are not webbed.

This night-heron has longer legs than its cousin, the black-crowned night-heron, and in flight, that characteristic is one of the identifying features of a yellow-crowned night-heron. When in flight, the yellow-crowned night-heron's legs and feet extend noticeably beyond the bird's tail, also helping to identify it from the black-crowned night-heron.

A juvenile yellow-crowned night-heron is very different in appearance to that of the adult bird. The juvenile's feather coloring is brown on its back and on the top of its wings. These feathers have very distinct white spots. The young bird's head is also brown, and the beak is pale yellow.

This is in sharp contrast to the adult bird, which is predominantly slate-gray along with a distinctive black head and white cheeks. During the breeding season, the crown on the yellow-crowned night-heron's head extends backward into a characteristic whitish-yellow plume. The beak, in contrast to many of the herons, is short and thick.

The preferred habitat of the yellow-crowned night-heron is around water. This includes wetlands such as bogs and swamps, along with river and coastal estuaries. Geographically, wetlands along the east coast, south of Massachusetts and southerly to Florida, support small to large populations of these birds. Yellow-crowned night-herons also inhabit areas along the Gulf Coast to Texas, with isolated populations along the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

As with most herons, the yellow-crowned night-heron roosts and nests singly or in small colonies. The nest consists almost entirely of small sticks positioned on a branch or in the crotch of a tree. Rarely are heron nests constructed on the ground; this is due to the high predation of the eggs or chicks. The nest of the yellow-crowned night-heron is usually home for three-to-five colorful blue-green eggs.

As with photographing any critter, first, you need to locate your subject. It always increases your possibilities and makes the shoot potentially more productive when you spend time researching the subject. Research is particularly important for locating birds. Birds are obviously very mobile and can easily change locations for improved food sources or due to habitat loss.

Here are some things you can do to help improve your research efforts. Replace your older versions of field guides and resource materials with current editions, and review the changes in a species range. For this reason, many of the most popular resource books are revised and updated every few years. Also, study the preferred habitats and, remember, as habitats become altered due to development, many species will move or change their behaviors, feeding schedules, or food sources.

The yellow-crowned night-heron, as previously discussed, lives close to water. Its primary sources of food are small crabs, and crayfish. For the yellow-crowned night-heron to be successful at finding and catching this prey, the water needs to be shallow and reasonably clear. I have had the best luck photographing these birds in shallow tidal pools or in estuaries containing brackish water along the Gulf Coast of Florida or Texas. Depending on the bird's comfort level with people, a blind or other form of camouflage may be necessary.

Since getting close to the bird is difficult without disturbing it, a long telephoto lens mounted on a tripod is the best equipment combination. Adjust the tripod legs so that you're low to the ground, and locate yourself so that you have a wide photographic area of view. This allows the bird plenty of room to move as it feeds, but you can stay in one place and not risk having your subject fly away due to continually relocating your position.

Depending on the position of the sun, I utilize a polarizer filter to reduce the glare off the water from the sun. For a polarizer filter to work effectively, you must be at a 90-degree angle to the sun, so keep this in mind when selecting your set-up location.

Finding and photographing the yellow-crowned night-heron can be challenging. However, look at the bright side, with only two species of night-herons in existence; once you have some images of the yellow-crowned night-heron, you're half way to having a complete collection!

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