If you're looking for a bird with attitude, look no further: the black-crowned night heron, or ‘Auku‘u is the one for you. First of all, they're big - with a wingspan around four feet and a stocky, barrel-chested body that would be comical if it wasn't for the intensity with which they carry themselves. Their movements are deliberate and it is easy to get mesmerized by their focused, stealthy approach to hunting. They patrol wetlands and sometimes backyard ponds, often seen motionless as they wait to ambush their prey with a lightning-quick thrust of the neck. Dinner for these birds is a smorgasbord of frogs, fish, small rodents, crustaceans, and the chicks of other wetland residents. The bird in the picture above was sneaking up on a nest of koloa maoli ducklings. Though their relatives on the mainland are night hunters, this subspecies (Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli) is diurnal. The female is similar looking, though smaller. The juvies are brown-streaked. A great place to go and see them is Hamakua Marsh, where you also get treated to sightings of the Hawaiian coot (‘Alae Ke‘oke‘o ), the Hawaiian moorhen (‘Alae ‘Ula), and maybe even the Hawaiian black-necked stilt, (Ae‘o). |
8 Comments
Kathryn
6/22/2013 10:54:49 pm
Hi Jeanne,
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cari
11/12/2014 12:21:25 pm
Just saw one of these at Maui's Aston Kaanapali Shores next to their koi pond in the garden.
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Janet Ortega
3/9/2015 10:03:44 am
We just saw a female last night at the Koi pond at the Ka'anpali Beach Club right next to the Aston At the Koi pond waterfall.
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Janice
10/1/2017 03:26:15 am
Does this
madeliene decambra
4/2/2015 03:32:42 pm
Aloha, my daughter found one in our yard. I called several authority from wildlife resources about and no one came to grab `Auku`u
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Ana Taylor
5/15/2015 02:50:21 am
A juvenile has taken up residence nearby and hunts at our koi pond, here in the Kapoho area on East side of Big Island! S/he is gorgeous.
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John
6/11/2016 12:47:42 am
Watched a large adult fish this morning at lava tide pools at Honaunau Bay for 1/2 hr., from 20 ft away. A real treat.
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mattkenny
4/13/2018 12:36:09 am
I saw this bird in kahuku on Oahu today by the prawn farms I have never seen one before
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