The Howland
Picture Pages: Black-crowned Night-Heron The Howland
Picture Pages: Black-crowned Night-HeronPage by Royce
Last update: $Date: 2004/01/28 04:51:55 $ (UTC)
The Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is small Heron that is not commonly seen in Alberta, although different range maps for it in my field guides vary the degree of territory it covers in this province. Most of the smaller Herons and similar birds have a continental North American presence that is concentrated in the south and/or east. However, the Black-crowned Night-Heron's range seems to be the broadest -- the latest Sibley Field Guide Western Edition does have a range map for the Black-crowned that shows summer coverage across the U.S. with significant encroachment up into the Canadian prairie provinces, including southern Alberta. Perhaps the bird's territory has been expanding?
The other reason this species is not commonly seen is that, as its name implies, it is nocturnal. Night-Herons roost in trees or marshes during the day, coming out at night to search shallow waters for food such as fish or frogs. Like other Herons they will stand still for a long time, watching and waiting, then strike suddenly to snap up a bit of dinner.
The Black-crowned Night-Heron may be small for a Heron, but it is still a sizable bird at 25 inches in length, and with a 44 inch wingspan. Even so, its combination of coloration and stillness is such that it could easily remain hidden while roosting, especially juveniles. For a hint, look for the red eye, or the black and white head of the male.
Resources where you can find out more:
|
(click image for larger photo) |
I was out at a location in north Calgary (Confluence Park) one Saturday, August 23, 2003, because I had recently seen a report on Albertabird of some Black-crowned Night-Herons. I got it into my head that I would find the birds, not having seen them before. I also intended to get some photos. This day was actually my second attempt, since I had tried the previous weekend but was thoroughly rained out. After quite a bit of walking through part of the area dealt with in the report, I had criss-crossed quite a bit of space and not located the Night-Herons. A distant hawk caught my eye and I stopped along a bit of open water with a second channel that forked away from me. The far back formed a bit of an overhang set against the backdrop of Deerfoot Trail, which is a very busy freeway. When I returned my gaze to ground level, lo and behold I saw something in some light tree cover against the far bank. It was a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron settling onto a branch from its low glide along the water. It turns out I had walked by their roosting spot previously and not seen them, despite being on the lookout precisely for them! In this picture, we have a pair of juvenile Black-crowned Night-Herons among the 8 that I eventually counted in the vicinity. Once I saw one of them, it seemed like others began popping out of the woodwork, although generally they were hardly moving at all. I took numerous shots with a digiscoping rig (a combination spotting scope and camera) at ranges of between 80 and 120 meters. This shot is from about 100m out. By this date I had progressed to my third digiscoping configuration. And my technique was beginning to improve, so these shots aren't too bad despite windy and overcast conditions. Part of the technique in wind is to keep the tripod legs as short as possible, for stability. This also helps stay down in cover, less in view of the subjects.
|
||
|
(click image for larger photo) |
Here we have an adult Black-crowned Night-Heron from the same group described above. It was a great pose, and despite the wind and clouds I was able to get a few clean images like this one. Only the fact that these birds stand almost preternaturally still enabled decent photos at slow-ish shutter speeds in the wind. The range on this shot is about 90m. The subtle shading on the grey wing feathers is a wonderful accent that doesn't come across in most field guides. Finding these birds in Calgary was quite amazing.
|
||
|
(click image for larger photo) |
Because photography conditions were mediocre on Saturday, I returned again on Sunday August 24, 2003 when the light was better and there was less wind. I found a smaller group this time, only 5 individuals. But there were more adult birds than I had seen the previous day so I infer the total group is at least 10 individuals presuming I didn't double-count any juveniles the day before. The range to the juvenile in this photo was about 80m. The light was indeed better, although I was shooting into it. I should have dialed the exposure back a little to avoid the sharp highlight along the top of the bird's head and bill.
|
||
|
(click image for larger photo) |
Here is an adult Black-crowned Night-Heron that was sitting just below the juvenile pictured above. The two trailing plumes from the back of the head are visible in this shot. The range here is also about 80m. I didn't want to observe for too long or visit too frequently lest I impact the Night-Herons' choice of roosting area, or draw the attention of potential predators. So I snapped a few more photos and left them alone for the rest of this season. I do find it amazing that what seems like a large group of these birds was located in only a few hundred meters of space separating the city's most heavily traveled freeway and a recreation area with paved trails frequented by many walkers, joggers, cyclists and people walking their dogs.
|
Unless stated otherwise, all photos and other content on these pages is copyright © 2002 - 2004 by Royce Howland.
Please don't steal anything for your own purposes, in particular if you have a plan for making fabulous stacks of cash in so doing. If you would like to use a photo or other content you find here, or just want to contact us about something, please send email to royce@3ge.com.
