Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

• HABITAT - Black-crowned Night-Herons are often just called Night Herons are found in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, around both fresh and salt water, including marshes, rivers, ponds, mangrove swamps, tidal flats. During the day, they roost in trees. Night herons also nests in trees, often on islands or above water, perhaps to avoid predators. NightHerons nest colonially and behave socially all year long.
• Northern populations move south for winter in Mexico, Central America and West Indies. Some populations from Pacific Coast and southern United States are probably permanent residents.
• DIET - Black-crowned Night Herons are opportunists feeders that eat many kinds of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine animals. Their diet includes leeches, earthworms, insects, crayfish, clams, mussels, fish, amphibians, lizards, snakes, turtles, rodents, birds, and eggs. 
• FACTS - Black-crowned Night Herons normally feed between evening and early morning, avoiding competition with other heron species that use the same habitat during the day.