LITTLE BLUE HERON

(Egretta caerulea)

eBird offers this description of the Little Blue Heron:  Medium-sized dark heron. Long bill is pale blue at the base and darker at the tip. Adults are grayish-blue overall; purplish head and neck contrast with body. Immatures are white in their first year, often showing splotches of gray-blue by their first spring. Greenish-yellow legs. Forages in wetlands. Moves slowly through the shallows with neck outstretched. More elongated body than Snowy Egret.  All About Birds adds this description:  A small, dark heron arrayed in moody blues and purples, the Little Blue Heron is a common but inconspicuous resident of marshes and estuaries in the Southeast. They stalk shallow waters for small fish and amphibians, adopting a quiet, methodical approach that can make these gorgeous herons surprisingly easy to overlook at first glance. Little Blue Herons build stick nests in trees alongside other colonial waterbirds. In the U.S., their populations have been in a gradual decline since the mid-twentieth century.

I saw my first Little Blue Heron at the Crescent Bend Nature Park on the morning of June 13, 2020.  This elegant bird was in Cibolo Creek, and I was able to watch it for a nice period of time.  

Little Blue Heron in Cibolo Creek at Crescent Bend Nature Center, Cibolo, Texas. June 13, 2020.
Little Blue Heron at Crescent Bend Nature Center on June 13, 2020.
I really enjoyed watching this elegant Little Blue Heron! June 13, 2020, Crescent Bend Nature Park.


“Cool Facts” About The Little Blue Heron From All About Birds…

  • During the feathered-hat fashion craze of the early twentieth century, Little Blue Herons’ lack of showy “aigrette plumes” saved them from the hunting frenzy that decimated other heron and egret populations.
  • Little Blue Herons may gain a survival advantage by wearing white during their first year of life. Immature birds are likelier than their blue elders to be tolerated by Snowy Egrets—and in the egrets’ company, they catch more fish. Mingling in mixed-species flocks of white herons, immature Little Blue Herons probably also acquire extra protection against predators.
  • With their patchy white-and-blue appearance, Little Blue Herons in transition from the white first-year stage to blue adult plumage are often referred to as “Calico,” “Pied,” or “Piebald.”
  • When observing groups of white herons and egrets foraging together, look for the slow, deliberate movements of an immature Little Blue Heron. This stately and deliberate pace helps distinguish the Little Blue Heron from its relatives, which tend to move more quickly or erratically.
  • A row of built-in “teeth” along the Little Blue Heron’s middle toe serves as a grooming comb. The bird uses this handy tool to scratch its head, neck, and throat.
  • The oldest known Little Blue Heron was at least 13 years, 11 months old. It was banded in 1957 in Virginia, and found in Maryland in 1971.