Rare state-endangered bird spotted in downtown Chicago goes viral

CHICAGO - A state-endangered bird made a rare appearance in downtown Chicago.

It quickly became a viral video star as people tried to identify it.

Rare bird sighted in downtown Chicago

The backstory:

The unusual bird landed on a River North office windowsill.

A business meeting was scheduled to take place in the room. It turned into a meeting with nature. 

You can hear a voice on the video saying,"I don’t know what bird this is…"

Alaina Neiburger approached slowly, recording video to share with other bird enthusiasts.

"It was big, huge. It was like nearly two feet tall. And the neck kept on coming in and out," said Neiburger.

She posted a picture on Facebook and it immediately took off. Curious birders wanted to know more.

Experts shared that this was a juvenile black-crowned night heron, endangered, but hundreds flew to Chicago and began nesting at the Lincoln Park Zoo 16 years ago.

Turns out, this is a city bird.

"Four hundred black-crowned night herons are managing to hide in plain sight. They were not invited by the Lincoln Park Zoo, by the way. The zoo has been marvelous about it, but it’s kind of like, hey, they’re taking over the neighborhood," said Amy Lardner, founder of the Chicago Black-Crowned Night Heron Project.

By stopping to rest on a windowsill, the heron brought a flock of fans together, in appreciation of the urban bird.

"They’re true Chicagoans nesting at zoo. These birds have to go all over Chicago to bring that food back to feed their heron chicks," Lardner said.

"You’d love to know that, especially in a city, that there’s a community looking to help these birds and maintain their lives and improve them and educate the public that’s a big part of it as well," said Neiburger.