A dapper Yellow-crowned Night Heron along the edge of a costal marsh patiently waiting for their next meal (preferentially crab) to appear. These wonderful birds breed in coastal and inland lowlands, wooded swamps, mangroves, and lagoons. Feeding and foraging areas almost always are associated with high concentrations of crustaceans, their food of choice.

This bird preening which is a common behavior after foraging and feeding. Full adult plumage like that in birds we photographed this day may take 3-4 years to develop. Along the way Yellow-Crowned Night Herons may display 4-5 distinct plumages.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron foraging in brackish waters.

Reference:

Watts, B. D. (2020). Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ycnher.01