Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Nyctanassa violacea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPelecaniformes (Pelicans, Herons, Ibises, and Allies)
- FamilyArdeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns)
- GenusNyctanassa (Yellow-crowned and Bermuda Night Herons)
- SpeciesNyctanassa violacea (Yellow-crowned Night-Heron)
About the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
The yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea) is one of two species of night heron in the genus Nyctanassa. Unlike the black-crowned night heron, which has a worldwide distribution, the yellow-crowned is restricted to the Americas. It is known as the bihoreau violacé in French and the pedrete corona clara or yaboa común in some Spanish-speaking countries.
The yellow-crowned night heron was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with herons, cranes and egrets in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea violacea. Linnaeus based his account on the "crested bittern" that had been described in 1729–1732 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in the first volume of his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Linnaeus specified the type locality as North America, but this has been restricted to the Carolinas following Catesby. The yellow-crowned night heron is now placed together with the extinct Bermuda night heron in the genus Nyctanassa that was introduced in 1887 by the Norwegian born zoologist Leonhard Stejneger. Its congener, the Bermuda night... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Celestún Biosphere Reserve
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Celestún Biosphere Reserve
Great Egret
Ardea alba
Snowy Egret
Egretta thula
Green Heron
Butorides virescens
Tricolored Heron
Egretta tricolor
Little Blue Heron
Egretta caerulea
Reddish Egret
Egretta rufescens
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Tigrisoma mexicanum
Boat-billed Heron
Cochlearius cochlearius
Cattle Egret
Bubulcus ibis
Black-crowned Night Heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
American Bittern
Botaurus lentiginosus
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Celestún Biosphere Reserve?
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron sighting in Celestún Biosphere Reserve, based on 625 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Celestún Biosphere Reserve?
January has the highest sighting rate for Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Celestún Biosphere Reserve in our monthly data.