Nest-Site Characteristics of Yellow-Crowned Night-Herons in Virginia

Nest-site characteristics of many Ardeidae species have been quantified and discussed for several areas along the Atlantic coast. Because Yellow-crowned Night-Herons (Nycticorax violaceus ) nest in very scattered, small colonies or as isolated pairs, they are often difficult to locate. For this reason, available information on nesting sites consists largely of qualitative descriptions of a few nests. The primary objective of this study was to provide a description of the vegetative characteristics associated with coastal nest sites in Virginia.