Heron nest chronicle

As posted here in early May, a pair of Yellow-crowned Night Herons (Nyctanassa violacea) courted, bonded and built a nest high in a sycamore canopy in my leafy urban neighborhood. Here’s a belated but happy follow up.

Getting right to the point…

Three of the four Yellow-crowned Night Heron chicks that successfully fledged the nest (Photo: June 29)

After the early May courtship, I watched for weeks for signs of a successful nest. Research told me that incubating Yellow-crowned Night Herons (YCNH — Institute for Bird Population code for short) sit low in the nest, so I knew that spotting a parent on the nest would be difficult.

Yay! Incubating adult spotted. (June 1)

YCNH incubation takes about 25 days, so hatch was recent or would be soon.

Looking good! (June 8)

First sighting of a nestling. Look for speckles in front of the adult. (June 19)

YCNH nestlings remain in the nest 30 to 40 days after hatching, so there would be lots of opportunities for better views. Hatching occurs according to egg order (not all the same day like many songbirds), so the chicks would be developing at different times.

Two chicks, with an adult in the upper left (June 24)

Three nestlings! With the oldest developed enough to stretch its wings and step onto a branch. (June 29)

Four chicks confirmed. (July 6)

YCNH adults share and trade off parenting duties. There was always one or the other standing watch. The chicks were fed at least twice a day.

Adult protecting chicks

Waiting for breakfast

Chicks feeding on food dropped in the nest by adult

Chow time

The chicks grew, developed and ventured onto branches, then to adjacent trees. Once able to fly, they were seen in nearby yards and odd spots around the neighborhood — still returning to the nest at feeding times and overnight.

Perched in a sycamore

Venturing farther from the nest

Where’d everybody go?

Learning to snap twigs for a nest

Testing its wings

Car roofs were popular perches

Rooftops too

Eventually, the adults appeared less frequently and it was time for all the YCNH chicks to fledge the nest.

My last 2022 sighting of one of the YCNH chicks (August 2)

Four months after the first adult Yellow-crowned Night Herons appeared in the neighborhood in early April, the successful nesting was complete. These herons will likely migrate to the West Indies for the winter and return to the area next spring. We’ll be watching for them.

Note: All photos were taken at a safe distance to avoid interfering with successful nesting. Learn more here.