Night Heron

For weeks now, I've come to enjoy a regular sighting of a particular bird near my dock; a yellow-crowned night heron. I was so excited the first time I saw one, because it was so different from the usual sightings at my dock of snowy egrets, great egrets, and little blue herons. And once I saw it a couple more times, I was thrilled to assume that he had made himself home in the mangroves nearby. He gives me a wary look, but he'll usually seem to not mind me on the dock as he rests in his usual spot. I take photos of him from time to time, since he is a beautiful bird, even though I don't post them anymore on iNat.

My partner had said to me he thought he saw the heron was missing a leg! I assured him that the bird was probably just resting on one leg. Sure enough, next time I saw him he just tucked a leg underneath his belly. Then my partner said he saw the bird limping! I admit, I really didn't believe my partner this time, seeing as how silly the last observation seemed. But a week or so later, I watched the poor heron limp across the boat lift. I had my camera in hand and snapped a couple photos of him. When I zoomed in on the pictures, I was appalled to find that there was fishing line wrapped tightly around his foot, preventing him from separating his toes fully. I felt so sorry for the guy, but I didn't know what I could do for it.

I Google searched for bird rehabs nearby, and was able to get in contact with one willing to send out a rescuer to try to catch the bird so they could treat it. I knew it would be tricky, since the heron could still fly, but tried to stay hopeful. The rescuer was very willing to try, even though the heron was a little reach from the dock, but I was disappointed by the way he lumbered toward the bird and quickly scared it off. He told me it's hard to catch them when they're still that active, and asked me to try to watch its behavior to see when it seemed "more depressed". If it starts losing the ability to hunt, or if it gets an infection, it'll have reduced energy and won't be so quick to fly away.

I wasn't thrilled with the outlook of just waiting for it to be "depressed", so I emailed the person I had initially spoken to at the organization. She gave me this recommendation: "Keep a towel down on your dock, so he gets used to the sight of it. Then if you have the opportunity, drop the towel over him. As soon as a bird's head is covered they basically freeze. That will give you time to scoop him up and put him in a box and call us! You might be our best bet since you're there all the time and he is used to you. Birds are very quick to notice anything outside the ordinary, and night herons are especially wary."

I feel a little better now that there's a little more I can do to work toward helping this bird, but I know it won't be easy. I have to admit, I laughed at the idea of throwing a towel over a heron and putting it in a box! But I'm hoping I can follow through for its sake.

Posted on November 21, 2020 03:03 AM by gemela-dos gemela-dos

Observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea)

Observer

gemela-dos

Date

October 2, 2020 09:14 AM EDT

Description

Alone on dock of Whitaker Bayou shortly after low-tide. Snowy egrets nearby.

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