Identify this bird!

[urbpan]

I was proud of my friend Nicole, a beginning birder, when she told me this week that she saw this bird near my house, and correctly identified it. Its been hanging around for a month, now. I took these pictures the first day I saw it. I guessed what it was, at the time, but had to consult my field guides to be sure.

Comments

[rwblackbird.livejournal.com]

It’s shape/posture looks like a Black-crowned Night Heron.

Could it be a female or juvenile?

[octogirlie.livejournal.com]

My guess was heron, too, but no more specific than that.

[zipotle.livejournal.com]

Isn't there something called a Lesser Heron?

I don't know. I'm not a birder.

Wait, isn't it Bitterns that are lesser?

*shrug*

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

You win. It's a juvenile black-crowned night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax.

[rwblackbird.livejournal.com]

this game is fun