 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Atlas results coming soon
Note: During all years of the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas drought conditions persisted and the Atlas range maps for all waterfowl, waterbirds, and wetland-associated species should be viewed as characteristic of distribution and abundance during dry conditions. Read the full drought statement here.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
Active from dusk to dawn, it emits a harsh quock as it flies to water's edge, where it stands quietly or stalks cautiously for the prolific ninespine stickleback, amphibians, young birds, small mammals, and invertebrates. Widely distributed in both the Old and New Worlds, the Black-crowned Night Heron has a relatively limited distribution in Canada, mostly in the prairie pothole region and along the St Lawrence River. Breeds throughout much of the US and winters along both coasts, across the southern US and into Mexico.
Breeding colonies are established in stands of tall emergent reeds and cattails, sometimes in close association with other colonial species including Eared and Western Grebes, Franklin's Gulls (Beyersbergen et al. 2009), Black Terns, and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Black-crowned Night Herons also build stick nests in deciduous trees or shrubs, not always near water, and sometimes in association with Great Blue Herons (Vermeer and Anweiler 1970). Night-Herons forage in a variety of wetland sites including flooded meadows, ditches, small stream courses, flooded wooded areas, marshes, and the water runs below man-made structures.
An uncommon and local summer resident. A significant westward expansion of the range occurred in the 1960s to occupy most of the settled portion of the province (Smith 1996). It was not recorded in Alberta until 1958 (Salt and Salt 1976), and there are still no records for the northern half of Saskatchewan.
Original text by Philip S. Taylor. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Black-crowned Night Heron in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Black-crowned Night Heron in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=BCNH&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
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