Black-crowned Night-heron

Wish I could see a Black-crowned Night-heron this close in the wild! They are always SO far away. The pair of these birds at the Calgary Zoo are nesting and, while I was there two afternoons ago, they changed place on the nest and the one leaving the nest flew and perched on the wooden railings that I was standing by, only two or three feet away from me. That was quite a feeling! During breeding season, the bird has two white plumes trailing down from the crown. These white plumes are present for most of the year, but they are most noticeable during breeding season. The male gathers the nesting material and the female builds the nest.