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Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
Nyctanassa violacea
Where it was photographed - Pond on the North side of the Spizzle Creek Bird Blind, Island Beach State Park
This photo is a perfect picture of the unique bay food chain; the cord
grass, broken down by fungi and bacteria to become detritus (a.k.a
“marine soup”) is eaten by the fiddler
crab. The fiddler crab is then consumed by the Yellow-Crowed
Night Heron. Though they often go unnoticed, the
semi-terrestrial fiddler crab exists by the thousands in the
estuary. The crab is another of the primary conveyers of the
detrital food chain*, feeding primarily on the broken down grasses or
detritus.
As for the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, they can grow up to
27” tall and are slate-gray with black heads with a white
streak along the side of their head and a yellow crown and
plumes. They have yellow to orange legs and a black bill.
Yellow-Crowned Night Herons can be found from New England to Florida,
mainly along coastal regions. Aside from crabs, they also eat
small fish, amphibians, and insects.
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