The coloring of the young birds provides protection, and they blend in so well with the background color of their surroundings that the colony may appear to contain only adult birds. These herons spend much of the day hunched and inactive, and feed mostly at dusk or evening. When they hunt for food, they move about briskly, holding their heads lowered and necks curved, ready for the quick strike that means death to their prey. They are highly gregarious in all seasons, and up to several hundred mating pairs and groups of young birds collect in an isolated patch of woods during the nesting period. They build large, loosely constructed nests of branches, canes, or twigs.
Colonies often contain other species of birds.
Reproduction Mating behavior includes a variety of threats and snapping displays plus preening, raising the feathers of the crown, breast, throat, and back, and fully erecting the head plumes. Clutches are three to six sea-green eggs, laid at intervals of two days. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs, which takes 21-26 days. They frequently raise two broods a year, and two sets of young birds may share the nest. Birds sometimes breed in their second year, before they attain adult plumage.