Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Q: What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Tikal National Park?

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron sighting in Tikal National Park, based on 89 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.

Q: When is the best time to see Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Tikal National Park?

March has the highest sighting rate for Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Tikal National Park in our monthly data.

Nyctanassa violacea

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered Endemic

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)

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

at Tikal National Park

89 Verified sightings at Tikal National Park From 2019 to 2026

16,504 Verified sightings across all 62 parks From 2019 to 2026

March Best month highest sighting rate

☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted during daytime hours (6am–6pm)

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 →

Closest Relatives at Tikal National Park

Cochlearius cochlearius

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible

Tigrisoma mexicanum

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible

Egretta caerulea

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck

Butorides virescens

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck

Agamia agami

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

LC Endemic

Ardea alba

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

Bubulcus ibis

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

LC Endemic

Ardea herodias

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

Nycticorax nycticorax

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

Egretta tricolor

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Egretta thula

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Platalea ajaja

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

See all 12 relatives Show fewer

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

#	Park	Country	Daily sighting probability
1	Caroni Swamp	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	~60%
2	Utría National Natural Park	🇨🇴 Colombia	~50%
3	Machalilla National Park	🇪🇨 Ecuador	~30%
4	Celestún Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	~30%
5	Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	~30%
6	Tortuguero National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~30%
7	Ostional Wildlife Refuge	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~30%
8	Galápagos Islands	🇪🇨 Ecuador	~20%
9	Bahía de Loreto National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	~20%
10	Channel Islands National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~20%
11	Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~20%
12	El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	~20%
13	Las Baulas Marine National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~20%
14	Isla del Coco National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~20%
15	Ciénaga de Zapata	🇨🇺 Cuba	~20%
16	Palo Verde National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~20%
17	Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~10%
18	Cahuita National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~10%
19	Los Haitises National Park	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	~10%
20	Tayrona National Natural Park	🇨🇴 Colombia	~10%
21	Bastimentos Island National Marine Park	🇵🇦 Panama	~10%
22	Darién National Park	🇵🇦 Panama	~10%
23	Everglades National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~10%
24	Big Cypress National Preserve	🇺🇸 United States	~10%
25	Corcovado National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	~10%
26	Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	~10%
27	Jaragua National Park	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	~10%
28	Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	~10%
29	La Amistad International Park (Panama)	🇵🇦 Panama	~10%
30	Cañón del Sumidero National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	<5%
31	Tikal National Park	🇬🇹 Guatemala	<5%
32	Santa Rosa National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
33	Manuel Antonio National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
34	Great Smoky Mountains National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
35	Congaree National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
36	Coiba National Park	🇵🇦 Panama	<5%
37	Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	<5%
38	Lago de Yojoa	🇭🇳 Honduras	<5%
39	Marino Ballena National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
40	Piedras Blancas National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
41	Main Ridge Forest Reserve	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	<5%
42	Pico Bonito National Park	🇭🇳 Honduras	<5%
43	Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park	🇭🇳 Honduras	<5%
44	Carara National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
45	Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park	🇯🇲 Jamaica	<5%
46	Calakmul Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	<5%
47	Braulio Carrillo National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
48	Soberanía National Park	🇵🇦 Panama	<5%
49	Tijuca National Park	🇧🇷 Brazil	<5%
50	Arenal Volcano National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
51	Shenandoah National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
52	San Lorenzo Protected Forest	🇵🇦 Panama	Insufficient data
53	Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	Insufficient data
54	Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	Insufficient data
55	Henri Pittier National Park	🇻🇪 Venezuela	Insufficient data
56	Biotopo Cerro Cahuí	🇬🇹 Guatemala	Insufficient data
57	Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary	🇧🇿 Belize	Insufficient data
58	Tenorio Volcano National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	Insufficient data
59	Big Bend National Park	🇺🇸 United States	Insufficient data
60	Parque Natural Metropolitano	🇵🇦 Panama	Insufficient data
61	Los Nevados National Natural Park	🇨🇴 Colombia	Insufficient data
62	Acadia National Park	🇺🇸 United States	Insufficient data

Quick answers

What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Tikal National Park?

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron sighting in Tikal National Park, based on 89 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.

When is the best time to see Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Tikal National Park?

March has the highest sighting rate for Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Tikal National Park in our monthly data.

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Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

About the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Closest Relatives at Tikal National Park

Boat-billed Heron

Bare-throated Tiger Heron

Little Blue Heron

Green Heron

Agami Heron

Great Egret

Cattle Egret

Great Blue Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron

Tricolored Heron

Snowy Egret

Roseate Spoonbill

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

Quick answers