The Yellow crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea), unlike other night herons, is active during the day as well as at night, preferring wooded swamps and coastal thickets. Occasionally it will prey on small turtles; its stomach secretes an acid capable of dissolving the shells. It breeds from southern New England to Florida and west to Texas, mainly near coasts but in the interior north to Minnesota and along Mississippi River and its larger tributaries. It spends winters along the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic coast north to South Carolina.
