Black-Crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)


Group	Bitterns and Herons
Code	ABNGA11010
Order	Ciconiiformes
Family	Ardeidae
Author	(Linnaeus, 1758)
Rank	G5 (definitions)
Occurrence	SM (definitions)
Scale	N (definitions)

County List:


Western UP	Delta, Menominee
Eastern UP	Mackinac
Northern LP	Alpena, Arenac, Bay, Cheboygan, Iosco, Isabella, Manistee, Roscommon
Southern LP	Allegan, Clinton, Huron, Macomb, Monroe, Muskegon, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Sanilac, Tuscola, Van Buren, Wayne

Rule:

Mixed Forested/Nonforested or Nonforested Landscapes

Foraging and Nesting Habitat Requirements may be distributed over the NEIGHBORHOOD

Foraging Habitat 1st alternative:
      (Pond or River)
   adjacent to:
      (Any Emergent Wetland or Lowland Brush) 

Foraging Habitat 2nd alternative:
      (Any Emergent Wetland or Lowland Brush)

Nesting Habitat 1st alternative:
      Lowland Brush 

Nesting Habitat 2nd alternative:
      (Any Lowland Deciduous (Regen or Sap or Pole))
      or (Mixed Lowland Hardwood (Regen or Sap or Pole))
   adjacent to:
      (Pond or River)

view decision rule term definitions

Habitat List:

Habitats	Regen	Sap	Pole	Sm Saw	Lg Saw	Uneven
Aspen	no	no	no	no	no	-
Paper Birch	no	no	no	no	no	-
Oak	no	no	no	no	no	no
Assorted Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Spruce/Fir	no	no	no	no	no	no
Hemlock	no	no	no	no	no	no
Jack Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Red Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
White Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Conifer Plantations	no	no	no	no	no	-
Mixed Upland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Upland Conifer	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Swamp Hardwoods	YES	YES	YES	no	no	no
Balsam Poplar & Swamp Aspen & Swamp Birch	YES	YES	YES	no	no	no
Bottomland Hardwoods	YES	YES	YES	no	no	no
Tamarack	no	no	no	no	no	no
Northern White Cedar	no	no	no	no	no	no
Black Spruce	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Lowland Hardwoods	YES	YES	YES	no	no	no
Mixed Lowland Conifer	no	no	no	no	no	no
Non-Forested	Pond, River, Marsh 1, Marsh 2 (MARSH), Lowland Brush
Special Features	Riparian

view size class definitions

Literature:

Scharf, W. C. 1991. Black-crowned Night-heron. Pages 116-117 In: R. Brewer, G. A. McPeek, and R. J. Adams, Jr. (eds.) The atlas of breeding birds of Michigan. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing. 594 pp.

Michigan Black-crowned Night-herons prefer to nest in shrubs and small trees from 2 to 6 m in height. Both the vegetation and the bird are considered transitional along a successional sequence toward a mature forest with the shrubs being replaced by large trees, and the birds replaced by Great Blue Herons or Great Egrets. Another requirement is foraging habitat with marshland to supply fish and amphibians.

The current distributions of the species in Michigan shows a marked preference for islands, where birds can escape predation and disturbance.

Kaufman, K. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 675 pp.

Habitat: Marshes, shores; roosts in trees. Found in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, around both fresh and salt water, including marshes, rivers, ponds, mangrove swamps, tidal flats, canals, rice fields. Nests in groves of trees, in thickets, or on the ground, usually on islands or above water, perhaps to avoid predators.

Diet: Mostly fish. Diet quite variable; mostly fish, but also squid, crustaceans, aquatic insects, frogs, snakes, clams, mussels, rodents, carrion. Sometimes specializes on eggs and young birds, and can cause problems in tern colonies.

Nest: Site varies with colony situation, from on ground to more than 150 feet high, in trees, shrubs, marsh vegetation; most commonly 10-40 feet up and on firm support.