Yellow-Crowned Night Heron in Galápagos: Facts and Where to See It

Despite its name, the yellow-crowned night heron hunts at all hours. On coasts, the tide matters more than the time of day: most feeding happens from three hours before high tide to three hours after. It stalks slowly, then lunges, and either shakes a crab apart or swallows it whole.

• Crabs first. Its diet leans heavily on crabs and other crustaceans.
• Dawn and dusk. It often moves between roost and feeding area at first and last light.
• Nests from fresh twigs. For its nest it breaks dead, brittle twigs straight off standing plants.

Yellow-crowned night herons are most common on coastal marshes, barrier islands and mangroves, and they range inland along wooded rivers. Nesting birds can be well hidden in trees, so in Galápagos the best chance is a bird hunting in the open at the waterline.

Guide sighting records list the yellow-crowned night heron at 1 site: Darwin Bay on Genovesa, a landing with a shore trail and a snorkel in the bay. The guides rate it Rare there, so a sighting is a bonus on a visit planned for the seabird colonies.

The guide records list the night heron in every month. Around high tide, and at dawn and dusk, it is most active. In the next twelve months, 369 departures stop at the site where it is recorded.

No, it is listed as Least Concern. In Galápagos, park rules keep visitors at least 2 metres (6 feet) from wildlife and on marked trails with a naturalist guide.

1. Looking only at night. It hunts by day too, especially around high tide.
2. Overlooking it. Grey on grey lava, it is easy to miss; watch the rocks at the waterline.
3. Counting on it. The one site in the guide records is rated Rare.