{"id":76795,"date":"2020-12-30T06:40:20","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T13:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=76795"},"modified":"2024-08-06T05:29:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T10:29:52","slug":"second-winter-black-crowned-night-heron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/30\/second-winter-black-crowned-night-heron\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Winter Black-crowned Night Heron"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SecondSecond winter Black-crowned Night Heron \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning at Farmington Bay I found and photographed a second winter Black-crowned Night Heron at the edge of the frozen marsh. I was delighted for two reasons, it is the first time I have photographed a Black-crowned Night Heron in Second Basic Plumage in Utah and because I haven’t been seeing as many of these herons as I used to see.<\/p>\n

This isn’t an adult Black-crowned Night Heron, it isn’t a juvenile either, it is an immature or sub-adult bird.<\/p>\n

\"Black-crownedBlack-crowned Night Heron in its second winter \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike some birds who molt into adult plumage within a year of hatching Black-crowned Night Herons do not get their adult plumage until after their second winter.<\/p>\n

This immature Black-crowned Night Heron still shows some streaking on its chest and it has a short occipital plume. It also has a dark but not black cap and shows some retained juvenile primary and secondary feathers that are brown instead of gray.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Black-crowned Night Heron in its first winter \u2013 Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The photo above shows a first winter, immature Black-crowned Night Heron standing on ice near the same spot as the heron in the first two photos. It is in its juvenile plumage which is brown and streaky.<\/p>\n

The degree of difference in the juvenile plumage sometimes misleads new birders and bird photographers into thinking that this is a separate species from the adult Black-crowned Herons. The most frequent misidentification I see is people thinking that juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons are American Bitterns.<\/p>\n

This young bird was photographed on January 4, 2013.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Black-crowned Night Heron in winter \u2013 Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 250, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This photo of an adult Black-crowned Night Heron was taken on January 7, 2013 in the same area of Farmington Bay as the three previous photos during a snowstorm. The crown and back are darker than is seen in the second winter bird, the occipital plume not visible in this image was longer and there was no streaking on the breast of this adult.<\/p>\n

I enjoy photographing Black-crowned Night Herons any time I see them in all kinds of weather conditions. I just wish I saw them as frequently as I used to.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Black-crowned Night Heron photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning at Farmington Bay I found and photographed a second winter Black-crowned Night Heron at the edge of the frozen marsh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,321,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,1533,2450,627,626,4067,4071,4094,3956,3957,4292,6939,5048,5599,4050,4328,2239,313,373,4193],"class_list":["post-76795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-black-crowned-night-herons","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-black-crowned-night-heron","tag-first-winter","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-marsh","tag-night-heron","tag-night-herons","tag-nycticorax-nycticorax","tag-second-basic-plumage","tag-second-prebasic-molt","tag-second-winter","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-sub-adult","tag-wading-birds","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-crowned-night-heron-second-year-mia-mcpherson-3662.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jYD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118586,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/27\/winter-black-crowned-night-heron-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":76795,"position":0},"title":"Winter Black-crowned Night Heron In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"While going through my archives this morning, I found this photo of a Black-crowned Night Heron in flight. It was taken in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA in 2021.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter Black-crowned Night Heron in flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6511.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6511.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6511.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Treat","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've mentioned before that Great Blue Herons stay in the Salt Lake Valley over winter even though the temperatures get very cold and so do some of the Black-crowned Night Herons.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Black-crowned Night Heron, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/black-crowned-night-heron-immature-ice-mia-mcpherson-8088.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/black-crowned-night-heron-immature-ice-mia-mcpherson-8088.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Black-crowned Night Heron fishing, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/black-crowned-night-heron-young-fishing-mia-mcpherson-2077.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/black-crowned-night-heron-young-fishing-mia-mcpherson-2077.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/black-crowned-night-heron-young-fishing-mia-mcpherson-2077.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/black-crowned-night-heron-young-fishing-mia-mcpherson-2077.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"About two weeks ago I was able to photograph two Black-crowned Night Herons, one was immature and the other was an adult.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting Black-crowned Night Heron adult, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-in-phrags-mia-mcpherson-8597.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/black-crowned-night-heron-adult-in-phrags-mia-mcpherson-8597.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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