Scientific Name: Nycticorax nycticorax

Residency: Lives year-round in central and western Arizona. In the northeast corner of Arizona, it is a winter resident only.

Diet: Fish, aquatic insects, amphibians, lizards, snakes, rodents, and small mammals. Eats the young of other bird species such as terns, herons, and ibises.

Predators: Observed or suspected predators of eggs and young include: raccoons and muskrats, Great Horned Owl, and Ring-billed Gulls. Species which eat the eggs include: Fish Crows, Boat-tailed Grackles, Common Crows, and Blue Jays. Response to predators: occasionally Black-crowned Night-Herons chase and mob crows.

Nesting: Singly or in small colonies (there may be up to 12 nests in one tree). Nest is placed in reeds, shrubs, cattails, a tree, or against a tussock. Nest made of coarse twigs, reeds and finer material. Lays 3-5 eggs (light-blue/greenish/pale blue-green). One brood per year.

Nesting Records:

Notes: Most active near dawn and dusk (crepuscular); roosts in trees during the day. Hunts alone, feeding mostly at night or at dusk. The adults apparently do not distinguish between their own young and those from other nests, and will brood chicks not their own.