Caribbean Herons: Part Deux

Sooo........we've seen a few pictures of the Green Heron, one of the easier species of heron or egret, here to see in the open (here and here), but none of the others yet. I thought it would be interesting to do a sort of ongoing photo essay thingy introducing the other local species. This should grow little by little as I track down the more elusive species and try for better photos.

This little chap with the blonde mohican is a yellow-crowned night heron, Nyctanassa violacea, one of two night heron species we have. Its easily distinguished from the black-crowned by its, er, yellow crown.

On the rare occasions I see either species they are generally holed up in the mangroves at dawn or dusk with no light for photos. This one had decided to roost right out in the open on a big concrete bridge foundation for some reason. The light was still bad hence the softness but I was just pleased to get a decent look at this chap. It seemed interested in getting a decent look at me too.

The juveniles of this species look completely different so I'll try and put up a pic of one too if I can track one down. In the meantime, til I get the other caribbean species, old world heron posts are here and here.