Herons, Egrets

Tricolored Heron, Egretta tricolor

Family Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets)

Size: 26"

Season: Summer

Habitat: Salt marshes, mangrove swamps

The tricolored heron is a thin, bluish-gray heron with a white belly and brownish neck stripe and lower back. In nonbreeding plumage, it has yellow lores and an orangey bill, but in breeding season this area of the lores and bill are blue and the bill has a dark tip. It also develops plumes behind the ears and across the lower back. To feed, it will actively pursue prey or stand motionless, waiting to stab a fish or frog with its thin, spear-like bill. The breeding adult is illustrated.