(Miles note: These photos were taken at Col. Sam Smith Park in May 2021)

This is an exceedingly rare straggler in Ontario.

The immatures are so similar to the young Black-crowned Night-Herons that they may be overlooked (or misidentified).

Adults with their black head, contrasting with the yellowish white crown and cheeks are quite distinctive.

The young are very similar to the young of the Black-crowned Hight-Heron but differ chiefly in shorter, stouter bill and longer legs – the whole foot and part of the tarsus project beyond the tail in flight, not just the toes as in the Black-crowned young.

Dr. J. Murray Speirs