Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

I was at Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve near Huntington Beach yesterday and saw a bunch of yellow-crowned night herons. On January 2nd of this year I was at Bolsa Chica and a person pointed one out to me quite excitedly and described it as a real rarity there. 

Yellow-crowned night heron at Bolsa Chica on January 2, 2026

Yesterday I encountered another birder who asked me if I'd seen anything interesting and I said I'd seen several yellow-crowned night herons. She didn't seem surprised and didn't seem interested. I got the impression that they must be old-hat there now. 

I was quite thrilled as it was only my fourth sighting of that bird. My first sighting was on South Padre Island in Texas in September 2019 and I did a post on it (December 17, 2019). I saw some more at Brazoria NWR southwest of Galveston Island, Texas on November 27, 2021.

But yesterday I got by far my best, most and most diverse views. I saw several juveniles and was not sure what they were, but wondered if they might be juvenile night herons. 

A juvenile at Bolsa Chica.

Another juvenile. 

AI notes that it is rare, but increasingly reported in coastal Southern California and noted Bolsa Chica as a spot with sightings.

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a juvenile from Birds of the World. 

Note that this range map from Birds of the World does not show anything near Southern California.