Breeding

Schomburgk (cited in Wetmore 1965) claims that the Capped Heron lays two eggs and that the nest is built in low trees. Captive breeding in Miami, USA indicates that a female may lay 2-4 dull white eggs (Hancock and Kushlan 1985), incubation lasts 26-27 days, and that the chick has white down (Hancock and Kushlan 1984, Martínez-Vilata and Motis 1992).  However, these captive individuals failed to have any young survive, possibly due to a deficient diet or abnormal behavior in the adults (Hancock and Elliott 1978). Based on birds with a similar biology, it's likely that they maintain family groups and care for young after fledging (Kushlan and Hancock 2005). There may be a two cycle breeding pattern, with northern and southern populations breeding at different times of the year (Hancock and Elliott 1978).