Juvenile black-crowned night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax (protonym, Ardea Nycticorax), also known as the American night-heron, black-capped night-heron, common night-heron, or simply as the night-heron (mostly in Europe), or based on its raucous voice, the qua bird or (my favourite) the quawk, photographed at Smith Point, Chambers County, Texas (USA).
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 10 September 2011 (with permission) [velociraptorize].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/200s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
Question: This North American mystery bird is quite common, but rather shy. Can you identify its taxonomic family? Can you identify this species? This photograph also shows you something else about this bird: what is that?
Response: This is a juvenile black-crowned night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax, as is plainly visible from its brown plumage with cream-coloured spots. This species' plumage patterns change as they age until they obtain their definitive (adult) plumage. Juveniles of this species can be confused with juvenile and first-winter yellow-crowned night-herons, Nyctanassa violacea, but the black-crowned night-heron's bright yellow bill with a black tip, larger wing spots, and shorter legs distinguish them. Juveniles can also be confused with the American bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus, but those creamy-white spots on the back set the black-crowned night-heron apart.
The night-heron's scientific name, Nycticorax, comes from the Greek for "night raven" in recognition of their primarily nocturnal feeding habits and of the black-crowned night-heron's raspy crow-like calls.
Embedded below is a 19-second audio recording of a juvenile black-crowned night-heron calling in flight, thanks to Xeno-Canto (recorded at Kingston Steam Plant, Roane county, Tennessee, USA, on 14 June 2009):
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