Tricolored Heron

                                                    Tricolored Heron [Jim Carroll Photo]

 The Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) is a small-to-medium sized heron of the Americas.  It lives in coastal habitats in the Atlantic region from northeastern US south through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean to northern South America as far south as Brazil.  In the west it ranges from Peru to California. As a vagrant it strays in the west as far north as Oregon and in southern Canada from Manitoba to Newfoundland.  Its population is reasonably stable, having been less affected by the millinery trade in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  The Florida population, however, shows recent declines probably due to habitat loss.

                                                                        Tricolored Heron

The Tricolored Heron has a long slender neck and the bill is noticeably long and thin.  The genders are similar and one wonders which 3 colours gave it its name.  It has a slate gray head, neck, back, wings and tail.  The back is often covered with purplish maroon long scapular feathers.  The rump is white as is the throat and underparts with the white extending in a thin strip from the throat to the belly.  The eyes are brown, the lores yellow and the bill is yellow.  The legs and feet are yellowish gray.  So, what 3 colours give it its name - the slate gray, the purplish maroon scapular feathers and the white?  In some birds with the yellow bill and lores, the yellow extends down the neck a bit.  So, it might be the slate gray, the white and the yellow.  

In breeding plumage the eyes turn red, long white occipital plumes appear as do purplish plumes on the neck.  The chin, scapulars, and throat turn rufous and a turquoise colour appears on the lores and bill base.  The feet and legs can also turn pinkish.  Given that rainbow of colours, now what is the origin of the name?  We may never know!

                                     Tricolored Heron Showing Purplish Plumes  [Jim Carroll Photo]

The Tricolored Heron is about 66 cm in length with a wing span of 91 cm.  For contrast, the Great Blue Heron is 117 cm in length with a wing span of 183 cm.  The photo below shows the difference but it is somewhat misleading because of the Great Blue Heron is closer to the camera and the Tricolored Heron is crouched down while the Great Blue is fully upright.  Notice the length of the bill in the Tricolored.

                            Tricolored Heron with Great Blue Heron    [Jim Carroll Photo]

We often have vagrant herons and egrets visit us here in New Brunswick in spring and summer.  This year we had many Great Egrets.  At one time there were 6 at Saints Rest Marsh in Saint John.  That is where the Tricolored Heron was found this summer.  It probably came north on the same weather system that brought the egrets.  It was at the marsh for at least 3 weeks and may still be there.  We saw it on September 17.  

The Tricolored Heron is quite unique and not easily mistaken for another species.  It is the only dark coloured heron with a white belly.  A new birder would have to consider whether it might be a Green Heron but a Green Heron is much smaller and does not have that long thin neck and white belly.  A dark morph Little Blue Heron might also have to be considered but it does not have the white on it.  The Reddish Egret dark morph which has never been seen here (as far as I know) might also be considered but it has no white on it either.  

                                                                    Tricolored Heron

The Tricolored Heron spends most of its time feeding in water and it is not afraid to wade deeply.  It feeds mainly on fish but will also take amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates.  It is very active as it feeds, often running after fish with its wings raised.  I have actually enjoyed watching them feed in South Carolina.  This species is a colonial breeder often on islands usually with other herons and egrets.  A platform nest is built of stems and twigs and lined with grass.  Three or four light blue green eggs are laid and incubated by both adults for 21 days.  

Although the voice of this species can be a croak or squawk like other herons it often is a soft, nasal moan.  Being relatively abundant in the Deep South, it is an easy bird to observe.  It was formerly called the 'Louisiana Heron'.  When I first started birding I often wondered what bird a Louisiana Heron was because it was renamed in all my bird books.  With the many I have seen, I have never seen more than one or two together.  They are much more solitary than egrets or Great Blue Herons.  Their feeding antics of chasing fish and flapping around are sometimes described by some as 'ballet dancing'.  Tricolored Herons are obviously smart birds.  They often follow Double-crested Cormorants or Pied-billed Grebes and scoop up the fish that they stir up.  

Can You Identify This Hawk?

On August 24 and 25, around 9:00 AM a hawk was seen perched on a dead tree near the river behind our house in Fredericton. It remained there for a considerable time, up to 40 minutes. The unusual thing was that it was wet, preening and continuously fluffed its feathers or sat with its wings and tail spread out, presumably to dry. It must have bathed in the nearby river and was using that perch to self-care. The only time it sat in normal position with normal contour was a few seconds on the second day before it flew. That made it difficult to identify. Let's see what you can do with identifying this hawk. Here are the identifying features: its shape was rounded (or it appeared so, the size was that of a small buteo, crow-sized or slightly larger). Its breast showed vertical stripes. The tail was boldly striped showing white at the tip and alternate white and dark even stripes. The head, upper breast and upper back were a rufous brown colour. The back was dark brown or gray with many large white spots. The tail appeared (at first) to be average length. The photos above show the notable features. At first I thought it must be a Red-shouldered Hawk. The size and shape were right. The tail looked right. The spots on the back were right (in my experience). I tentatively decided it might be a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. It gave me plenty of time to take many photos (at a distance of 60 metres) using my super-zoom camera. Studying the photos with friends gave me a different perspective. We went over the individual features carefully. The size was right for a Red-shouldered Hawk or a Cooper's Hawk. The vertical stripes on the breast were bold and tear-drop shaped. That would indicate a Cooper's Hawk. The feet and legs were yellow which did not give any clues. The rufous colour on the head, upper breast and upper back made me think of Red-shouldered although we didn't see any red on the shoulder. The tail showed white stripes on the ventral aspect and gray stripes on the dorsal aspect. That would indicate Cooper's. The white spots on the back definitely pointed to Red-shouldered to me because I had seen them on Red-shouldered before but never on an Accipiter. It was difficult to tell what hawk we were looking at with it fluffed up and in abnormal position.

Hawk Showing Tear-drop Striping on Breast

Hawk Showing White Patches on Back In one poor picture from the first day the tail appeared long. See below.

It was time for an expert to examine the photos. We sent a batch off and later it was determined that the hawk was a Cooper's Hawk. That confirmed most of the field marks. But what about the shape and the white spots on the back? The second day's visit gave the opportunity for many more photos. That confirmed many white patches on the back and wings. Only at the last few seconds before the bird took off did it sit in a normal position and shape. See below for two views of the tail, dorsal and ventral.

That short view of the bird, as it finished its preening and took off, confirmed that identification. Its shape and size were definitely that of a Cooper's Hawk. The tail was long and rounded on the tip characteristic of a Cooper's. The breast striping confirmed it as a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. That was a difficult identification but an enjoyable puzzle. The whole problem was that the bird never until the last few seconds on two separate visits, sat in a normal postion. The long sleek appearance of a Cooper's Hawk was not evident. What about the white patches on the back and wings? That really fooled me. I have never seen that beforre on an Accipiter. According to the expert, some Accipiters have spots on their backs. I checked 100s of images and Sharp-shinneds, Cooper's and Northern Goshawks and all three species can have white spots on their backs, although that feature appears to be uncommon. Also, what is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk doing here in August? According to the literature, Cooper's Hawks breeding range extends into Maine (Sibley's) or southern New Brunswick (National Geographic). In 'Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List' it says the species is a rare summer resident and that there have been a few nesting records. Peterson Field Guide, 'Hawks of North America' shows a breeding range in southern and south-western NB. So, what I learned is that nesting Cooper's Hawks are unusual breeders in NB but they do exist. What we were looking at was a juvenile probably from one of those rare nesting pairs here. What a privilege to have enjoyed this hawk! Note: the absence of formatting in this post is due to problems with the blog software.