How Does a Black-Crowned Night Heron Look Like?

Black-Crowned Night Heron is a stocky bird with large head thick neck and short legs. It has a length from 56-65cm, wingspan 105-112cm and weighs from 525-800grams.

It has greenish yellow legs and feet which turn red during bleeding time. During non-breeding plumage, the long nape feathers are absent.  Black-Crowned Night Heron Belongs to the Ardeidae family.

How Does Black-Crowned Heron Sing?

Loud, barking quawk! often heard at night or at dusk. Voices a variety of cries, barks, and other harsh calls in nesting colonies.

Where Can Black-crowned Night Heron be Found in Uganda?

This chucky bird can be found in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, around both fresh and saline water, including marshes, rivers, ponds, mangrove swamps, tidal flats, canals, rice fields.

It nests in groves of trees, thickets, or on ground, usually on islands or above water, perhaps to avoid predators.

In Uganda, the Black-Crowned Night Heron can be found along the shores of lake Mburo National Park.

How Does the Black-crowned Night Heron Behave?

Observed during day time, these chunky herons seem dull and lazy, they usually rest for longtime in trees near water.

What do Black-crowned Night Heron Feed On?

The diet of black-crowned night herons is quite variable but they mostly feed on fish, but also squid, crustaceans, aquatic insects, frogs, snakes, clams, mussels, rodents, carrion.

Sometimes this bird specializes on eating eggs and young birds of other species, and can cause problems in tern colonies.

When Do Black-crowned Night Heron Feed?

The Black-Crowned Night Heron usually feeds by standing still or walking slowly at edge of shallow water. May perch above water on pilings, stumps, small boats.

It feeds mostly from late evening through the night, but also by day during breeding season or in unusual weather.

How Does the Black-crowned Night Heron Feed?

They become more active at night or evening hours, flying out to scavenging sites, calling “wok” as they pass high overhead in the darkness.

Some studies suggest that they feed at night because they are dominated by other herons and egrets by day.

When do Black-crowned Night Herons Breed?

Their first breeding usually occurs at the age of 2 years. It breeds in colonies of this species alone or mixed with other herons, egrets, ibises, sometimes with Franklin’s Gulls.

Some colonies occupied for several times may begin nesting earlier in season than other herons.

How do Black-crowned Night Herons Raise Their Young Ones?

Black-Crowned Night Heron lay on the ground about 3-4, sometimes 1-7 pale green eggs. Incubation is by both sexes, and it takes between 21-26 days.

After hatching, both parents feed their young ones by regurgitation. Young black-crowned night herons climb in the tree nest at 4 weeks, able to fly at about 6 weeks. After 6-7 weeks, may follow parents to foraging areas and beg to be fed there.

How do Black-crowned Night Herons Nest?

The male chooses the nest site and displays there to attract the female. Displays include stretching neck up and forward with feathers ruffed up and slowly bowing while raising feet alternately, giving hissing buzz at lowest point in bow.

Their nesting site varies with colony situation, from on ground to more than 150′ high, in trees, shrubs, marsh vegetation; most commonly 10-40′ up and on firm support.

The nest is built mostly by female as the male supplies raw materials, a platform of sticks, flimsy or substantial.