Susan Kirby

The yellow-crowned night heron in breeding plumage shines brightly in the sun! What a beautiful bird. And when they have babies, the young kids are so funny looking (Melody Andres, a fantastic photographer, calls them Einsteins). The first YCNH I saw was in Central Park, but now I've seen them on Governors Island (with kids in the nest), Marine Park (eating fiddler crabs like popcorn), and Jamaica Bay as well. They love crabs and other crustaceans.

This yellow-crowned night heron was seen on June 5, 2023, chowing down on fiddler crabs at the Lido Beach Passive Nature Area on Long Island.

I watched this yellow-crowned night heron devour about five crabs on June 13, 2021, at Marine Park in Brooklyn.

These yellow-crowned night herons were seen south of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens and near Marine Park in Brooklyn, June 17 to July 5, 2020. The first photos are from the nest near Marine Park, taken on June 28, 2020. That nest blew down on June 29, after these photos were taken, and the babies rescued by Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation.

The yellow-crowned night herons in the slideshow just below include a nest near Marine Park in Brooklyn, and herons seen in Marine Park, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and East 12 pier near the Broad Channel A train station, May 26 through June 17, 2020.

The yellow-crowned night herons in the slideshow below were seen at the Upper Lobe in Central Park on May 18, 2020, and at the East 12th walkway off Cross Bay Boulevard in Jamaica Bay on May 27, 2020.

These photos were taken near the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on May 15, 2019.

Einsteins on Governors Island

Governors Island has been the home of a nest of yellow-crowned night herons for the last two years. In 2017, the nest moved to across from the Harbor School.