Black-crowned Night-Heron

Black-crowned Night-Herons come alive at dusk. We hear them squawk as they fly over our house in Sanibel on their way to hunting sites, just at the time most other heron species have gone to bed.

What I like about this dramatic photo I took of one, is the way the light shines on the red eye. Black-crowns hunt small fish at night by standing in water, often near tree roots. During the day they roost in trees, sometimes colonially. This one is an adult. Juvenile/first year birds are streaked brown.

Nice to know a whole mysterious world of night hunters opens up, when we humans have gone to sleep.