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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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