Yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea), Ocmulgee National Monument, 2015.

Two species of night herons are found in the Americas, the yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea) and black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). Both species are stocky, wading birds with long legs and similar juvenile plumages. You can differentiate the adult herons by their plumage, however; yellow-crowned night herons have a black and glossy head with white cheeks and a pale yellow crown which gives the bird its common name while the black-crowned night heron, perhaps unsurprisingly, have a solid black crown.