The black-crowned night heron is 23-28 inches tall and has a wingspan of about four feet. It is a medium-sized heron with a stocky body and short legs and neck. It has a black crown and back, gray wings and a white underside. Adults have red eyes and yellow legs and feet. These birds lives in fresh and saltwater marshes, swamps, lakes and wooded streams. They hunt for food in the early morning hours and at dusk. With great patience, they will stand and wait for prey like frogs and fish to pass by, then snatch them up with their bills. They will sometimes raid the nests of other herons and birds and steal the chicks. They also eat amphibians, crustaceans, insects and small mammals. Black-crowned night herons can often be seen and heard in the melacluca trees by the snack stand.