Yellow-crowned Night Herons

Rare sightings of a pair of Yellow-crowned Night-Herons started in April and have been found in El Dorado Park and the Nature Center.  Cindy Crawford took this photo at the creek on Snake Road.  They’re typically found in the southeast of the US, parts of Mexico, Central America, and coastal regions of South America.

The following is from AllAboutBirds.org: While not as slender as a typical heron, the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron’s smooth purple-gray colors, sharp black-and-white face, and long yellow plumes lend it a touch of elegance. They forage at all hours of the day and night, stalking crustaceans in shallow wetlands and wet fields. Their diet leans heavily on crabs and crayfish, which they catch with a lunge and shake apart, or swallow whole. They’re most common in coastal marshes, barrier islands, and mangroves, but their range extends inland as far as the Midwest.