Tricolored Heron

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Tricolored Heron

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Ciconiiformes
Family:	Ardeidae
Genus:	Egretta
Species:	E. tricolor

Binomial name

Egretta tricolor
(Statius Muller, 1776)

The Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) formerly known in North America as the Louisiana Heron, is a small heron. It is a resident breeder from the Gulf states of the USA and northern Mexico south through Central America and the Caribbean to central Brazil and Peru. There is some post-breeding dispersal to well north of the nesting range.

Tricolored Heron's breeding habitat is sub-tropical swamps. It nests in colonies, often with other herons, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. In each clutch, 3-7 eggs are typically laid.

This species is about 56 cm (22 in) long, with a 96 cm (38 in) wingspan and weighs 350 g (12 oz). It is a medium-large, long-legged, long-necked heron with a long pointed yellowish or greyish bill with a black tip. The legs and feet are dark.

Adults have a blue-grey head, neck, back and upperwings, with a white line along the neck. The belly is white. In breeding plumage, they have long blue filamentous plumes on the head and neck, and buff ones on the back.

Tricolored Heron stalks its prey in shallow or deeper water, often running as it does so. It eats fish, crustaceans, reptiles and insects.

Juvenile Tricolored Heron

Adult (nonbreeding) Tricolored Heron

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Egretta tricolor. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 5 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Hilty, Birds of Venezuela ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
"National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4