Herons (Ardeidae)

Yellow-crowned Night-heron (Nycticorax violaceus) - HBW 1, p. 419

French: Bihoreau violacé German: Krabbenreiher Spanish: Martinete Coronado

Taxonomy: Ardea violacea Linnaeus, 1758, Carolina.
Often placed in monospecific genus Nyctanassa, for instance on skeletal grounds; this separation from rest of night herons supported by work using DNA DNA hybridization. Races cayennensis and gravirostris sometimes absorbed within violacea and bancrofti respectively. Six subspecies usually recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

violaceus (Linnaeus, 1758) - C & E USA, E Mexico to Honduras.
cayennensis (Gmelin, 1789) - Colombia to NE & E Brazil.
bancrofti (Huey, 1927) - Baja California to El Salvador, W Indies.

See all 6 subspecies

violaceus (Linnaeus, 1758) - C & E USA, E Mexico to Honduras.
cayennensis (Gmelin, 1789) - Colombia to NE & E Brazil.
bancrofti (Huey, 1927) - Baja California to El Salvador, W Indies.
gravirostris (van Rossem, 1943) - Socorro I (W Mexico).
calignis (Wetmore, 1946) - Panama to Peru.
pauper P. L. Sclater & Salvin, 1870 - Galapagos Is.

Least Concern

Enlarge map

List
Thumbs

Sounds

2 recordings

Click to play Birds calls (adults and youngs) in mangrove, where there are many nests. Locality Comandatuba Island, Una, Bahia State, Brazil
Antonio Silveira 24 January 2011 49 weeks ago 3
Songs in colony of nests of this species in mangrove. Colony with about 30 nests. Locality Comandatuba Island, Una, Bahia State, Brazil
Antonio Silveira 25 January 2013 16 weeks ago 0