Ted, Great shots. This isn't a big deal, but do you know for a fact that the younger bird in "Parental Guidance" is a juvenile bird (recent fledgling)? The reason I ask—this looks like a courtship display, and the younger bird looks like a first summer (second calendar year) bird. A few first summer Yellow-crowned Night Herons do breed. These birds, like the one in your photo, are still juvenile-plumaged. Most, however, don't breed until the following year when they reach adult plumage.
davidrhorer wrote:
Ted, Great shots. This isn't a big deal, but do you know for a fact that the younger bird in "Parental Guidance" is a juvenile bird (recent fledgling)? The reason I ask—this looks like a courtship display, and the younger bird looks like a first summer (second calendar year) bird. A few first summer Yellow-crowned Night Herons do breed. These birds, like the one in your photo, are still juvenile-plumaged. Most, however, don't breed until the following year when they reach adult plumage.
David, I can't really say with 100% certainty but I believe the juvenile to be 1-year old.
Based on observation I have seen before in a juvenile, I believe the display to be a learned behavior. I have seen 2-year olds display but as I understand, sexual maturity occurs at three years of age.
Ted ellis wrote:
David, I can't really say with 100% certainty but I believe the juvenile to be 1-year old.
Based on observation I have seen before in a juvenile, I believe the display to be a learned behavior. I have seen 2-year olds display but as I understand, sexual maturity occurs at three years of age.
davidrhorer wrote:
Ted, Great shots. This isn't a big deal, but do you know for a fact that the younger bird in "Parental Guidance" is a juvenile bird (recent fledgling)? The reason I ask—this looks like a courtship display, and the younger bird looks like a first summer (second calendar year) bird. A few first summer Yellow-crowned Night Herons do breed. These birds, like the one in your photo, are still juvenile-plumaged. Most, however, don't breed until the following year when they reach adult plumage.
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AGeoJO wrote:
Ted, gorgeous images of the Yellow Crown! I love them all - what a great set! YGMV!
Joshua
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mitesh wrote:
Great shots in some gorgeous light, Ted! I am especially fond of the displaying heron in the second image, but they're all top notch!
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Murphy18 wrote:
amazing pics ! ! !
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TimsView wrote:
Great timing! It takes a lot of patience and a quick trigger to get the right shot. You got a great set. Thank you for sharing.
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davidrhorer wrote:
Thanks for responding. Keep up the great work.
Super nice shots Ted! I recently captured some shots of these birds with young but I don't think I got anything even close to your amazing shots. Nice work!
lighthound wrote:
Super nice shots Ted! I recently captured some shots of these birds with young but I don't think I got anything even close to your amazing shots. Nice work!
Dave
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dclark wrote:
These are beautiful images! Don't know how I missed them first time around.
