Tricolored heron

The tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor), formerly known as the Louisiana heron,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> is a small species of heron native to coastal parts of the Americas. The species is more solitary than other species of heron in the Americas and eats a diet consisting mostly of small fish.

Habitat, breeding, and distribution

Tricolored herons breed in swamps and other coastal habitats and nests in colonies, often with other herons, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. In each clutch, three to seven eggs are typically laid. The tricolored heron is the second most coastal heron in the United States.<ref name=":0" />

The species' range follows the northeastern United States, south along the coast, through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, to northern South America as far south as Brazil. In the Pacific region, it ranges from Peru to California, but it is only a nonbreeding visitor to the far north.

It was likely the most numerous heron in North America until the cattle egret arrived to the continent in the 1950s.<ref name=":0" /> While the species' population appears to be on the decline,<ref name=":0" /> it remains quite common.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> The bird is listed as "Threatened" by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Description

This species measures from Template:Convert long and has a typical wingspan of Template:Convert.<ref name=AAB/> The slightly larger male heron weighs Template:Convert on average, while the female averages Template:Convert.<ref name=pwrc/> It is a medium-large, long-legged, long-necked heron with a long, pointed, yellowish or greyish bill with a black tip. In breeding plumage, some individuals will develop a stark bicolored bill which is blue and black at the tip. Its legs and feet turn from dark yellow in nonbreeding birds to pink in breeding adults. The plumage of the triclolored heron changes dramatically from its juvenile form to its adult form.<ref name=":2" />

Adults have a blue-grey head, neck, back, and upper wings, with a white line along the neck. The belly is white. In breeding plumage, they have long, blue, filamentous plumes on their heads and necks, and buff ones on their backs.<ref name=":1" />

Behavior and diet

The tricolored heron is more solitary when foraging than other North American herons. When it forages for its prey, it is typically belly-deep in water, alone or at the edge of a mixed flock.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Kent (1986) found that the diets of tricolored herons in Florida consisted of 99.7% fish and prawns.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> While other members of Egretta may also eat crabs and opportunistically forage for terrestrial arthropods, the tricolored heron has been consistently observed to be almost exclusively piscivorous, primarily feeding on members of Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae and Poeciliidae, as well as Centropomidae and Cichlidae.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Gallery

• Feeding
  Feeding
• Marco Island, Florida
  Marco Island, Florida
• File:Tri-color Heron.JPG
• Flying
  Flying
• Juvenile
  Juvenile
• File:Tricolored Heron JCB.jpg
• Between the crocodiles Tortuguero, Costa Rica
  Between the crocodiles Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Predation

In Florida, tricolored herons may be eaten by some growth stage of invasive snakes like Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, Southern African rock pythons, Central African rock pythons, boa constrictors, yellow anacondas, Bolivian anacondas, dark-spotted anacondas, and green anacondas.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Further reading

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
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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
• Template:InternetBirdCollection
• Template:VIREO
• Template:NeotropicalBirds Template:Subscription required