John
Audubon observes
the Night Heron
April and
May, 1832 - Audubon paints the Night Heron in the Florida
Keys
Night
Heron
The
frog, of which I introduced a figure, is common in the
retired swamps which the Night Heron frequents, and is
often devoured by it. The flowering plants which you
see, are abundant in the states of Georgia and
South Carolina, as well as in the Floridas.
Audubon
writes about the Night Heron in Volume III of his
Ornithological Biography .
He
writes that the Night Heron is a "constant resident of
the Southern States" as well as Eastern States as far
north as Massachusetts.
Some of
his comments about Florida and the Keys appear
below:
In
the course of my winter rambles through East Florida,
I met with several of the large places of resort of
the Night Heron, . . . "
"At
the approach of spring, great numbers of those which
have wintered far south, leave their place of sojourn
and migrate eastward, although probably an equal
number remain in the low lands of Louisiana and the
Floridas during the whole year. There. indeed, I have
found them with eggs in April and may, and as young
birds just fledged were very abundant at the same
places, I concluded that these eggs were of the second
laying. . . . "
As to
breeding places Audubon writes,
"In
the Floridas they are partial to the mangroves that
overhang the salt-water; . . . . . Those which I found
in the Florida were all placed on the south-west sides
of mangrove islands, but were farther apart from each
other, some only about a foot above high-water mark,
while others were in the very tops of the trees,
which, however, scarcely exceeded twenty feet in
height. . . . "
Additional
information about the night heron may be found by
following the link below to the Florida Breeding Bird
Atlas. The Atlas, a collaborative effort of Audubon of
Florida, the Florida Ornithological Society, and the
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
provides information of general status, habitat, and
status of breeding species in Florida
http://wildflorida.org/bba/BCNH.htm
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