The Story
I photographed this Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) at Posada Turística Kenisha in Prado, Tolima, Colombia. It usually rests in a hunched posture, but it stretches out its neck when hunting. It nests in colonies, on stick platforms in trees or on the ground in protected spots such as islands or reedbeds. Young birds have orange eyes and dull yellowish-green legs. It is migratory in the north of its range but resident elsewhere. Prado’s main attraction is the Darío Echandía reservoir, an artificial lake fed by the Cunday and Negro rivers. Prado sits at about 321 meters on the right bank of the Magdalena, crossed by its tributary the Prado River.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Black-crowned Night Heron as Least Concern.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) belongs to the family Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025). Source: IUCN Red List