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In our most recent edition of TODO Casa de Campo (magazine guide for the Casa de Campo resort), we brought you an “Everyday guide to bird-spotting in Casa”, a simple guide to enjoying the many different species found across the resort. In this series of posts “Birds of Casa de Campo” we’ll be bringing you more in-depth insights into all these incredible creatures.
Birds of Hispaniola
The island of Hispaniola, shared between Dominican Republic Haiti, has more than 300 different bird species, of which 32 are endemic, meaning that in the entire world, this is the only place they can be found; so pay attention and let’s take a look at another bird species found in Casa de Campo.
The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
The herons are fans of the water, three different types can be found in Casa. We’ve spotted the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Yaboa), which is small and speckled brown, the magnificent Great Blue Heron (Garzón Cenizo), as well as the Green Heron (Cra-Crá) near the lakes of hole 14 and 18 of the Teeth, as well as the numerous lagoons of the Links, and along the ocean.
The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, which is considered a medium-sized heron, is actually rather small. The first (and only) time I’ve spotted one was on the lake on hole #14 of the Teeth of the Dog, was an immature (baby) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron – that’s the one in the picture above.
This is the type of heron you are least likely to see here in Casa de Campo, as they are solitary birds and are most active at night. You are most likely to spot a Great Blue Heron (Garzón Cenizo) or Green Herons (Cra-Crá), and of course there are also the Great Egrets (Garza Real) and the Cattle Egrets (Garza Ganadera), that look very similar, and there are lots of those, especially in the Chavón river area.
The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
It is a medium heron, with a strong beak and robust appearance.- The adult is mostly blue-gray, with tail feathers light gray and many patterns on the head.
- It has a black beak, yellow legs and red eyes.
- It ranges from 55-70 cm high and weighs approximately 685 g.
- The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is not endemic to the Dominican Republic, but a resident breeding bird.
- It is a solitary bird. Active mainly at night – which is why they are usually not spotted here.
- It feed of fishes, insects and worms.
- It nests in thick nests of sticks.
- They lay 2-4 blue greenish eggs.
- They reproduce between March and July.
This is the fifth article of our series “Birds of Casa de Campo”, in future articles you can look forward to reading about: the Broad-Billed Tody, the Barrancoli, the Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo and many more!
Click here to read part 1: The Hispaniolan Parakeets of the Teeth of the Dog
Click here to read part 2: The Brown Pelican
Click here to read part 3: The Hispaniolan Woodpeckers
Click here to read part 4: The little yellow Village Weaver