Plate 361
Havell CCCXXXVI
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
(Nyctanassa violacea)
Audubon found these birds to be the least graceful, and most standoffish, of all the herons. These birds were probably painted in Charleston on October 23, 1831. The adult male at the bottom was shot by John Bachman; its three white plumes are separate pieces of paper which have been cut out and pasted onto the painting. An immature heron is shown at the top. The trailing vine, painted by Maria Martin, is smilax (Smilax pseudo-china).
This bird was chosen by a staff member to display because “it was the first bird I ever got excited to learn more about after a juvenile male began visiting my backyard every evening in the summer months to eat and perch in the tall trees. The first time he visited was the summer of 2018, and he’s returned every summer since.”
Source: The Original Water-Color Paintings by John James Audubon. Copyright 1966 by American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.
Learn more about this print on the National Audubon Society's website.