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Tricolored Heron

Egretta tricolorOrder: CICONIIFORMESFamily: Bitterns, Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)

Tricolored Heron Portrait
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General

Tricolored Heron: Medium-sized heron with blue-gray upperparts, head, neck and wings, paler rump, white stripe on foreneck, and white belly. Also has white plumes on back of head and rust-brown plumes on lower neck and back during the breeding season. Bill and legs are olive-brown. Sexes are similar. Winter adult and juvenile lack plumes and have rust-brown wash over neck, upper breast, upper back, and wings.

Range and Habitat

Tricolored Heron: Breeds in southeastern New Mexico and Texas, on the Gulf Coast, and along the Atlantic coast north to southern Maine (rarely). Spends winters along the coast from Texas and New Jersey south to northern South America and West Indies. Preferred habitats include swamps, bayous, coastal ponds, salt marshes, mangrove islands, mudflats, and lagoons

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"aaah", "scaah"

Interesting Facts

 The Tricolored Heron is the only dark colored heron with a white belly.

 One of the most abundant herons found in the Deep South, it was formerly called the Louisiana Heron.

 A group of herons has many collective nouns, including a "battery", "hedge", "pose", "rookery", and "scattering" of herons."



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Tricolored Heron
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)_blue
Species Egretta tricolor
Length24 - 26 Inches
Wingspan36 Inches

Tricolored Heron

Tricolored Heron: Medium heron, blue-gray upperparts, head, neck, wings, paler rump, white stripe on foreneck, white belly. Also has white plumes on back of head and rust-brown plumes on lower neck, back during the breeding season. Bill and legs are olive-brown. Direct flight on steady wing beats.

● Song: "aaah", "scaah"

● Foraging & Feeding: Tricolored Heron: Prey consists primarily of small fish, but includes crustaceans, reptiles, amphibians, insects, snails, and other invertebrates. Often stands or wades belly-deep in water; crouches with legs bent when stalking in shallows.

● Breeding & nesting: Tricolored Heron: Three or four light blue green eggs are laid on a platform nest made of stems and twigs, occasionally lined with grass; nests in mixed-species rookeries on coastal islands, although some may nest in swamp forests. Both parents incubate eggs for about 21 days.

● Similar species: Tricolored Heron: Little Blue Heron is stockier, lacks white underparts, and has browner neck and head.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with steady quick wing beats.
Tricolored Heron Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Tricolored Heron: Breeds in southeastern New Mexico and Texas, on the Gulf Coast, and along the Atlantic coast north to southern Maine (rarely). Spends winters along the coast from Texas and New Jersey south to northern South America and West Indies. Preferred habitats include swamps, bayous, coastal ponds, salt marshes, mangrove islands, mudflats, and lagoons
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationDeclining
MigrationSome migrate
Weight14.6 Ounces