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Tricolored Heron

A Tri-colored Heron stands and faces the left. It has dark gray feathers and some white feathers that stick out from the back of its head (these sort of have a transition from gray to brownish to white). Yellow can be seen near its eye, adn white can be seen a little bit near the very tip of its beak and under its head. White can also be seen a little bit under its wings. The legs are not visible. Its beak fades from a lighter brown to a darker gray-ish color at the tip. Behind the bird, grass can be seen, speckled with blurred yellow flowers amidst streaks of sun and shade.

From a distance, I thought this was a Little Blue Heron, another pretty, slate blue bird. As I got closer, the white plumes on the back of its head gave it away as a Tricolored Heron. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the white plumes means this is a breeding adult.[1]

I’m always fascinated when the juvenile and adult forms of a bird look so different (I’m looking at you, Yellow-crowned Night Heron). As a juvenile, the Tricolored Heron looks rusty—you can see one in the Cornell Lab link above. Either way, blue or rusty, it’s a cool looking bird. Calm and composed, as herons generally seem to be.

Not so as a nestling.

As a nestling, it sports a hairdo that is wild, chaotic, and beautiful. It’s a sight to behold. Why photos of it as a nestling aren’t featured front and center on every page about the Tricolored Heron, I’ll never know.

Seriously. There are photos of it as a nestling if you look through the Photo Gallery of its Audubon page.[2] Check it out!

The Details:

Common Name: Tricolored Heron
Scientific Name: Egretta tricolor
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Month: July
Seen: Standing in the grass along a bank near water

Learn More About Tricolored Herons:

  1. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). Tricolored Heron: Identification. All About Birds.
  2. Audubon. (n.d.). Tricolored Heron. 

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