Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The night heron apparently comes out at night in Tompkins Square Park


[Photo last night by Guillermo Zubillaga]

For at least the past year there have been occasional sightings of a rather odd-looking bird (so to speak) lurking about the Park in the evening hours… now we've had two reader sightings these past few nights…

Any bird lovers experts in the house know what we're looking at here in the photos? Some kind of night heron????


[Photo from Monday night by Bayou]

Word is the bird stays in the abandoned Christodora House pool during the day.

Updated 5/7

EVG regular Grant Shaffer also spotted this elusive nighttime, uh, night bird last summer...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Rare bird
at

23 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 6, 2015 at 9:15 PM

    That's not a bird!
    Some people can be so mean!
    Just leave that dude alone. Just because some people look different than others is no reason to make fun of them. Grow up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. GojiraMay 6, 2015 at 10:28 PM

    Yeah, it looks like a black-crowned night heron! How very cool!

    ReplyDelete
  3. PinchMay 6, 2015 at 11:32 PM

    Not sure except to say that it looks to be one of NatureEs creatures (ok, now it's completely out of my system).

    ReplyDelete
  4. b377yMay 7, 2015 at 12:17 AM

    I know that guy. His name is Roy and he lives on st marks place. Ppl often mistake him for a bird because his legs are stick think.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JimmyHigginsMay 7, 2015 at 8:00 AM

    You can see on this species-specific map of sightings by birders that the Black-Crowned Night Heron is a not-infrequent visitor to lower Manhattan:

    http://ebird.org/ebird/map/bcnher?bmo=1&emo=12&byr=2011&eyr=2015&__hstc=75100365.d588e71a1d813dd70b6b538e2668c850.1421631232734.1430676246633.1430999777212.7&__hssc=75100365.4.1430999777212&__hsfp=2815322943#_ga=1.156213619.932647595.1421631232

    ReplyDelete
  6. HarryMay 7, 2015 at 9:43 AM

    I think it's a yellow-crowned night heron, not black. Ball-crowned are stockier.

    http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/yellow-crowned-night-heron

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMay 7, 2015 at 9:53 AM

    Red tailed hawks, some kind of night heron, opossums, raccoons, coyotes - what's next? Moose ambling along Avenue A?

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMay 7, 2015 at 9:54 AM

    Not a Yellow-crowned. It's a Black-Crowned Night Heron. It's weird that it's hanging out in a dry park. They prefer watered areas.

    I've had the pleasure of watching the resident one fishing at Central Park.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousMay 7, 2015 at 10:00 AM

    Part of me doesn't want such things exposed as there are some mean people who will now want to catch it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousMay 7, 2015 at 10:09 AM

    What's the rarest NYC bird?

    ReplyDelete
  11. bayouMay 7, 2015 at 10:28 AM

    Never a more apt time to have a nom de plume.

    ReplyDelete
  12. GojiraMay 7, 2015 at 10:32 AM

    Anon. 10:09, the Sober Bro-Ho bird. You almost never see it on the streets of the city. Far more prevalent is its very near cousin, the Slobbering Woo bird.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMay 7, 2015 at 10:38 AM

    From my birder friend K:

    Black-crowned Night Heron. That's the bird that got me started birding.

    They come out at night to feed, hence the name. Usually found at bodies of water. Eat fish, birds, reptiles, eggs, bugs, etc.

    From me: no knock on the hawks, but nice to diversify our bird sightings.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousMay 7, 2015 at 11:31 AM

    To the bird appreciateurs (I just made that word up!) in the audience: if you happen to hear any incredibly weird bird songs from your apartment window - please take the time to look outside on the off chance you may spot someone's lost pet bird. Check and/or post on craigslist if you do. In a city of 20 million - with most of them in apartments - there are bound to be a ton of escaped birds that won't make it through the winter if they're not caught. And/or will become a tasty hawk treat :O

    ReplyDelete
  15. Laura Goggin PhotographyMay 7, 2015 at 1:58 PM

    This is so cool. They eat rats.

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousMay 7, 2015 at 2:48 PM

    Sober Woo Hoo and Slobbering Woo birds hahaha I love it.

    Woo hoo! Woo who!

    Woo!

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousMay 7, 2015 at 5:16 PM

    Must be one of the heron dealers in the park dropped his stash....

    ReplyDelete
  18. AnonymousMay 7, 2015 at 8:28 PM

    11:31 - I'm confused as to how I would go about catching someone's lost pet bird that's in a tree outside my window? Who would I call? What would I feed the thing and house it and take care of it until someone came to claim it? So many questions. Catching it sounds nice in theory, but murder in execution.

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousMay 8, 2015 at 12:35 PM

    Why, that's a yellow-bellied sap-sucker!

    ReplyDelete
  20. AnonymousMay 8, 2015 at 11:45 PM

    For the person looking to rescue a lost pet bird you can contact Bobby Horvath & Cathy Horvath, Wildlife Rehabilitators - he is THE best. Here is their facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/WINORR-Wildlife-In-Need-of-Rescue-and-Rehabilitation/113685721999067

    ReplyDelete
  21. AnonymousMay 9, 2015 at 7:05 PM

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/05/mayor-de-blasio-declares-war-on-rats.html
    Tompkins Park was not baited. Does this mean they will BAIT the park? OMG

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousMay 10, 2015 at 2:07 PM

    There is some kind of night bird on 12h street between a and b. I hear it every night or should I say morning, 1AM

    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousJune 4, 2016 at 3:19 AM

    Hana I'm on 12th between a and b! Listening to it right now!

    ReplyDelete

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