Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Black-crowned Night-Heron [lateral view of adult]. Photograph Credit: Terry M. Campbell; Obey River near Celina, Clay County, Tennessee; 26 August 2007.

Abundance: Very Uncommon during spring, summer, and fall; Rare during winter; recorded in 15 Regional counties, 4 in Kentucky and 11 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the populations probably breeding in or definitely migrating through the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; Transient during spring and fall; Visitor during winter; photograph (see above).

Regional High Count: 3 (22 July and 26 August 1990; Burgess Falls State Natural Area, Putnam County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman [first date] and Stephen J. Stedman, Barbara H. Stedman [second date]); CBC/CBB High Count: 2 (14 December 2011; Russell County, Kentucky [CBC]; Barbara H. Stedman); FBC/FBB High Count: 1 (17 September 2005; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; Stephen J. Stedman et al.; and 16 September 2006; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; Douglas A. Downs; and 24 September 2011; Bledsoe County, Tennessee [FBB]; Stephen J. Stedman); SBC/SBB High Count: 1 (7–8 May 1966; Cumberland County, Tennessee [SBC]; TOS members; and 28 April 2007; Smith County, Tennessee [SBB]; Winston Walden, Michael P. O'Rourke; Tom Saya).

Information on Records: 

31 July 1996 (1) Mason Grissom Rd., Warren County, Tennessee (Susan N. McWhirter).

14 December 2011 (2—adults) lower part of Ramsey Creek, Russell County, Kentucky (Barbara H. Stedman), a CBC record. 

15 December 2011 (1—adult) Obey River just below Rt. 53, Celina, Clay County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman), a CBC record.

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: x (

    Late Fall: x (

    Note: General spring arrival difficult to determine (few records); general fall departure also difficult to determine (few records).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent).  Several observations of juvenile-plumaged night-herons during late summer at the Hurricane Marina, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Carol D. Williams, pers. com.), are the best breeding-related evidence of this night-heron in the Region.  Many other sites have harbored this species during the breeding season, indicating that it is probably a more widespread, if thinly distributed, breeder in the Region than the current records indicate. 

Habitat: x

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: x

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited