Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron has edged up: up 20% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Yellow-crowned Night Heron
The Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) is a North American member of the Herons, Egrets & Bitterns (Ardeidae). In this analysis it is grouped with the wetland birds.
- Size
- 12–51 in long (30–130 cm) — a long-legged wader (typical for the family)
- Habitat
- Marshes, ponds, lakeshores and other freshwater wetlands.
- Diet
- Aquatic invertebrates, small fish, frogs and plant matter.
- Range
- Recorded on 499 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 25 states, most concentrated in the Southeastern Coastal Plain.
- Family
- Ardeidae · Wetland birds
Notable Yellow-crowned Night Heron Trends
No notable trend signals for Yellow-crowned Night Heron. See the full index history below.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Yellow-crowned Night Heron is projected to stay roughly flat through 2029, near 0.08 (95% range 0.00–0.15). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±95.7%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.08 | 0.00 | 0.15 |
| 2026 | 0.08 | 0.00 | 0.15 |
| 2027 | 0.08 | 0.00 | 0.15 |
| 2028 | 0.08 | 0.00 | 0.15 |
| 2029 | 0.08 | 0.00 | 0.15 |
Where the Yellow-crowned Night Heron Is Detected
BBS routes recording Yellow-crowned Night Heron, sized by most recent count.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron Population Trend by State
| Alabama | +6% | 1968 | 54 |
| Arkansas | -40% | 1969 | 24 |
| Connecticut | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Delaware | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Florida | -89% | 1968 | 65 |
| Georgia | -57% | 1975 | 34 |
| Illinois | -69% | 1974 | 6 |
| Indiana | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Kansas | -46% | 1973 | 8 |
| Kentucky | +33% | 1974 | 10 |
| Louisiana | +124% | 1969 | 78 |
| Maryland | insufficient data | n/a | 7 |
| Mississippi | -82% | 1970 | 31 |
| Missouri | -64% | 1983 | 10 |
| New Jersey | -29% | 1983 | 3 |
| New York | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| North Carolina | -52% | 1974 | 10 |
| Ohio | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Oklahoma | -54% | 1969 | 23 |
| Pennsylvania | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| South Carolina | -10% | 1975 | 11 |
| Tennessee | -34% | 1973 | 15 |
| Texas | +14% | 1969 | 89 |
| Virginia | -64% | 1981 | 9 |
| West Virginia | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
Yellow-crowned Night Heron Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | -77% | 1969 | 19 |
| Oaks and Prairies | -15% | 1969 | 48 |
| Central Hardwoods | -50% | 1971 | 24 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | -52% | 1969 | 72 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | +149% | 1969 | 44 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | -2% | 1968 | 148 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -78% | 1969 | 21 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | +38% | 1975 | 15 |
| Peninsular Florida | -90% | 1969 | 44 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | +313% | 1969 | 36 |
Yellow-crowned Night Heron Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it up about 20% since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.