Thursday, 25 December 2025

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea)


OTHER NAMES:
N/A
Latin Etymology: Nyctanassa ("night queen") violacea ("violet coloured")

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) at Tarcoles, Costa Rica - November 2025

Featured Subspecies: Unclear
Weight: 650-850g  /  Length: 55-70cm  /  Wingspan: ?
NO UK STATUS IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A widely ranging species found from the Great Lakes to near the Southern edge of Brazil including across the Caribbean, although it mainly favours coastal sites  particularly mudflats and mangroves. The subspecies aren't clearly understood how they intergrade and this bird falls within the border range of three and thus hasn't been identified. They are specialists in feeding on crustaceans and the bill sizes of the different populations correleate to the prey species within that range. 
 
Related Species: 
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Nyctanassa
SUBSPECIES: N. v. violacea, N. v. bancrofti, N. v. caliginis, N. v. cayennensis, N. v. pauper
 
- Sighting Locations - 

COSTA RICA - Spanish - Martinete Coronado
Coastal resident
- COSTA RICA 2025 TRIP: One seen at Tarcoles 

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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