Tricolored heron

Tricolored heron
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Ardeidae
Genus:	Egretta
Species:	E. tricolor
Binomial name
Egretta tricolor (Statius Muller, 1776)
Range of E. tricolor   Breeding range   Year-round range   Wintering range

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 measures from 56 to 76 cm (22 to 30 in) long and has a wingspan of 96 cm (38 in). The slightly larger male heron weighs 415 g (14.6 oz) on average, while the female averages 334 g (11.8 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.

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

Gallery

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  Quintana, Texas
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  Feeding
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  Flying
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  Juvenile
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References

Notes

Sources

• Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.
• Field Guide to the Birds of North America. National Geographic. ISBN 0-7922-6877-6.
• Stiles, F. Gary; Skutch, Alexander F. (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Comstock Publishing Associates. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4.

External links

• Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Tricolored heron photos at Field Guide: Birds of the World on Flickr
• Tricolored heron Bird Sound at Florida Museum of Natural History
• "Tricolored heron media". Internet Bird Collection.
• Tricolored heron photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
• Tricolored Heron species account at Neotropical Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)