Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned night herons have an extensive distribution that includes the Americas and an Old World range stretching from Europe and Africa through India to Japan. Their colonies are generally associated with large wetlands, particularly swamps, marshes, streams, rivers, mudflats, and lake margins thick with rushes or cattails. Adults have a compact, stocky body and relatively short neck and legs. They average 58–72 centimetres long and about 800 grams, with a black crown and back, gray wings, pale underparts, and red eyes (Animal Diversity Web).

These herons are opportunistic predators whose diet centers on fish but can include leeches, worms, insects, crayfish, mussels, squid, amphibians, reptiles, rodents, birds, eggs, carrion, vegetation, and refuse. Individuals usually forage alone and defend their feeding places. During courtship, males use snapping, crouching, neck-stretching, head-bobbing, and vocal displays to attract females. Pairs are presumed to be monogamous, while synchronized displays within nesting colonies may provide social stimulation that helps initiate successful breeding (Animal Diversity Web).