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The Black-crowned Night Heron with a Nest of Garbage

Despite only being a “night owl”, Mr. Liu recently has been working both day and night to support the little baby born into the family. He is like a non-stop spinning top, sleeping fewer than two hours a day. His black eyes resemble those of a panda. Because of the family’s new addition, their home space is more crowded than ever. Mr. Liu therefore picked up some plastic bags and garbage to do minor renovations to the nest, so the kids have enough space to live comfortably.

Black-crowned Night Heron

The black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is a wading bird of the Ardeidae family. It’s called “àm-kong-tsiáu” in Taiwanese, referring to a person who doesn't sleep at night. In Hakkam, it is called “rhia gua”.

Features

Both the sexes of the black-crowned night heron are similar in appearance. It is about 60 centimeters in length. An adult has a bluish black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey. There are two to three long, thin white plumes at the back of its head, and its irises are red. Immature birds have grey-brown plumage with numerous pale spots and orange-yellow irises.
Habitat

It has strong adaptability to its surroundings. Its foraging territory ranges from natural environments to artificial fish farms and small ponds. Woodland around wetlands is suitable for its breeding and roosting habitat.
Distribution

Outside areas of high latitude, such as the Arctic and Antarctica, it is widespread in Africa, Europe, Asia and America. It is a common bird of the heron family that can be observed in wetlands. Its breeding habitat ranges from coastal areas to mountain streams. In Taiwan, the black-crowned night heron can be seen all year round, but only some are resident. Some migratory black-crowned night herons come to Taiwan for the winter while others breed in Taiwan in summer and migrate southwards for the winter.
Habits

As it is active at night, it has gained the title “night heron”. The night heron can use bait to fish. It tosses fruit into the water and waits at the shore for fish to swim up. When prey is spotted, the night heron grips the fish with its beak and rapidly takes it out of the water. Fish farmers regard it as vermin.
Diet

It primarily feeds on aquatic animals, such as frogs, fish and shrimp.