Listen to the black-crowned night heron
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the black-crowned night heron
The black-crowned night heron is a bird in the family Ardeidae (order Pelecaniformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 106 cm and weigh around 682 g.
What does the black-crowned night heron sound like?
Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round. Listening for both helps with identification.
The recordings here are labelled as flight call and nocturnal flight call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. In Australasia it is replaced by the closely related Nankeen night heron (N. caledonicus), with which it has hybridised in the area of contact.
More from the family Ardeidae
Grey heron
Ardea cinerea
Great egret
Ardea alba
Eurasian bittern
Botaurus stellaris
Little egret
Egretta garzetta
Purple heron
Ardea purpurea
Little bittern
Botaurus minutus
Striated heron
Butorides striata
Indian pond heron
Ardeola grayii
Agami heron
Agamia agami
American bittern
Botaurus lentiginosus
Black-headed heron
Ardea melanocephala
Green heron
Butorides virescens
Frequently asked questions
What does a black-crowned night heron sound like?
You can hear 6 recordings of the black-crowned night heron on this page, including its flight call and nocturnal flight call. Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round.
Is the black-crowned night heron endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the black-crowned night heron as “least concern”.
What family does the black-crowned night heron belong to?
The black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) belongs to the family Ardeidae in the order Pelecaniformes.
Sources & credits
- Flight call · Arnhem, Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands by Joost van Bruggen – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Nocturnal flight call · Fontaine-le-Comte, Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France by Benoît Van Hecke – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Flight call, nocturnal flight call · Dresden, Dresden, Sachsen, Germany by Jens Loose – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Flight call, nocturnal flight call · Dresden, Dresden, Sachsen, Germany by Jens Loose – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Flight call · Área Metropolitana de Sevilla (near Isla Mayor), Sevilla… by Joost van Bruggen – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Nocturnal flight call · Fontaine-le-Comte, Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France by Benoît Van Hecke – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q126216 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Black-crowned night heron – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Rhododendrites – CC BY-SA 4.0