Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - The Crab Hunter

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

On a casual visit to Oistins on Saturday morning (March 19th), I came across one of the most mysterious, and rare birds on our island, in one of the most public places.  This bird, a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), is nocturnal and loves to eat crustaceans, especially crabs.  I was able to observe this pre-historic looking bird for a few minutes and documented, with photographs,  it catching and devouring a Blackback Land Crab (Gecarcinus lateralis), but before doing that, it did this.

The heron regurgitated a half-eaten crab, with feet and claws missing.

Then proceeded to re-consume some of the regurgitated pieces. Seeing that prompted a few questions in my mind, did the bird kill its prey then removed the feet and claws? Knowing how hard a crab's shell is, I wondered if the heron had a method of softening the shell before eating it? 

Those questions were soon answered when the night-heron's attention was drawn to movement at the base of a nearby tree.  It approached the tree purposefully but cautiously, with a laser focus attention on the area of movement, only briefly broken by the nosey approach of an airplane making its way to the nearby Grantley Adams International Airport.  With a lightning strike, the bird had a Blackback Land Crab firm in its bill.       

The night-heron moved its prey to an open area 

After tossing it around in its bill for a bit, the bird swallowed the still alive crab whole. I found this very intriguing, the bird just ate a crab, shell and all. What type of digestive system does this bird have?   A search on the topic led me to the Houston Audubon webpage that dealt with the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. A fun fact at the bottom of the page stated in part that Yellow-crowned Night-Herons excrete stomach acid strong enough to dissolve the shells of crawfish, crabs … 

What an amazing bird, one of the many, though rare, you see on the beautiful island of Barbados.  

Stay Safe and enjoy your birding.

The Barbados Birds and Birding Report – February

After a dream start to 2022, birding-wise, February brought things back down to earth.  We only add two species to the year’s tally, Caribbean Martin (Progne dominicensis) and a Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva) closing the month with 79 species.

February Rare Bird Sightings

Here are the rare birds seen during the month, highlighted below parish by parish. (* continuing Birds)

St. Lucy

The long-stay Glossy Ibis remains steady in the north

• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)(1)*- only one of the original three birds remaining at this location;

St. Andrew

The American Coot population continues to increase 

• American Coot white-shielded (Fulica Americana) (19)*- adults and juveniles at Walkers Reserve, which continues to be the hub for this species return to the island;
• American Wigeon (Mareca Americana) (8)* – seen at Walkers Reserve with a growing number of Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors).

Magnolia Warbler continues at THWs

• Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) – First seen on January 15^th at Turners Hall Woods. 

St. George

• American Coot white-shielded (Fulica Americana)* seen at Redland.

ST. Philip

• Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica)*- sub-adult at the Bayfield’s Pond, first reported by a  visitor to the island but has subsequently molted into its beautiful adult plumage.
• Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva) - Every year for the last several years this species, maybe even the same bird, returns to this location. 

Christ Church

Two sightings of a Black-headed Gull at Oistins 

• Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)* –  two sightings in the month of February on the ice pier at Oistins;
• Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)* –  seen on the ice pier at Oistins'
• Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) – wintering bird at the Graeme Hall Swamp.  This bird was first seen by John Webster on January 23^rd.

St. Michael

• Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)* – seen on the Browns Beach on multiple occasions.  

Feel free to contact me, Julian Moore @ 100birdsbarbados@gmail.com, John Webster @ barbadosbirds@gmail.com, or Ed Massiah @ ebmassiah@hotmail.com to report any rare bird sightings, or if you need assistance identifying a bird, we would be happy to help.