Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica (B) (NB), Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, USA (B), Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British) (B) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (B) (NB).
Vagrant to St Pierre and Miquelon (NB) (P).
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 76,000 - 160,000 (2020) and stable.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) [XC487232]
by Paul Marvin from Imperial Beach Sports Park, San Diego County, California, United States (call)
Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) [XC487231]
by Manuel Grosselet from Imperial Beach Sports Park, San Diego County, California, United States (call)
Subspecies
Subspecies cayennensis and gravirostris sometimes absorbed within violacea and bancrofti respectively.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
violacea (Linnaeus, 1758) - Central and eastern US to eastern Mexico and Honduras.
cayennensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789) - Colombia to north-eastern and eastern Brazil.
bancrofti Huey, 1927 - Baja California to El Salvador, western Indies.
gravirostris (van Rossem, 1943) - Socorro I (western Mexico).
caliginis (Wetmore, 1946) - Panama to Peru.
pauper (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1870) - Galapagos Is.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet