Howard County Bird Club

A Chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Attempted Nesting near Lake Elkhorn

For a number of years, Lake Elkhorn has been the most consistent county location for Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. In this part of Maryland, they feed almost exclusively on crayfish and this Columbia lake appears to have a thriving population. Adult night-herons, which often had been seen in midsummeri, began arriving in spring with early records 3/23/10 (K. Clark) and 3/12/12 (A. Lewis). In both 2007 and 2008, two juveniles appeared with adults in late July (M. Stewart). Small streams flowing into and out of the lake form numerous wooded corridors for potential nest sites. During those years, occasional searches along the Patuxent Branch Trail and around Fore Bay Pond were unsuccessful in locating a nest.

On 5/17/12, Sam Droege posted a message on MDOsprey mentioning that the previous day three people were collecting bees for him at Lake Elkhorn. While waiting for one person to return to their vehicle parked on Sharp Antler, south of Lake Elkhorn, they noticed two large birds in the cul de sac. They photographed them and forwarded the photo to Sam for identification. When he saw that they were two adult Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, he realized they might be nesting in the vicinity and posted the message.

Jo Solem had been convinced for several years that nesting was likely occurring near the lake so Sam’s informatioin was valuable. The following morning Jo arrived before 9:00 a.m. and drove into Sharp Antler, a short cul de sac with numerous driveway cuts. Seeing no birds and with no available parking, she returned to Rustling Leaf to park and walk. Just as she was entering Sharp Antler, a recycling truck drove up and entered the cul de sac. The truck proceeded slowly with the expected noise. As both Jo and the truck reached the clustered mailboxes, two adult Yellow-crowned Night-Herons flew out of trees along the street—one from a tree on the east side and one from a tree on the west. The birds flew toward the end of the street with one disappearing behind the houses and the other perching on a rooftop on the east side. The truck soon left. After photographing the bird on the roof and speaking briefly to a homeowner leaving in her car, Jo returned to the mailboxes to search for the nest. Almost as soon as she looked up, she spotted a matrix of sticks perhaps 1½ ft. in diameter. Obviously, the birds had not been building long for it was a very open nest. It was positioned on a horizontal branch on the south side of an English plane tree (similar to a sycamore) at a junction of several smaller branches, perhaps 18-20 ft. above the ground and over the street. While Jo took a few photos of the nest, one of the birds (presumed female) returned to stand at the nest; soon the other adult returned to a tree across the street. Two homeowners appeared; one mentioned that the birds had been in the vicinity about a week.

Despite not publicizing the location of the nest and asking the homeowners to be sensitive to the presence of these unusual birds, there was little or no further work on the nest. Visits by several individuals (R. Ringler+) over the course of the following two weeks verified that the nest was abandoned. According to B. D. Watts in the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron life history, “Several nests may be initiated before a final nest is completed. These nests rarely progress beyond 10-20 sticks and generally do not persist” (p. 12). This certainly describes the situation on Sharp Antler. Whether they successfully nested elsewhere near the lake in 2012 is not known.