Did you recognize the handsome red-eyed bird in last week’s puzzler? If you’ve ever gone canoeing, kayaking or spent any time around water, you’ve probably seen this bird. It is called a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.
Yellow-Crowned Night Herons are 22-28 inches tall with a wing span of a little under 4 feet. They are common in coastal marshes, barrier islands and mangrove forests, but can also be found inland to the Midwest and as far north as Michigan. Despite their name suggesting otherwise, they will hunt at all hours of the day, and night, stalking whatever they can catch but favoring crabs and crustaceans like crayfish.
In the US there are two species of night herons–the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron and the Black-Crowned Night Heron, pictured below. You can see that both were appropriately named!
Check out the next puzzler–another bird found in similar habitats.
And have a great weekend! See you again soon.