A small heron with slender neck and bill, the Tricolored Heron forages in shallow water and will sometimes join other heron species when prey is abundant. It is a resident heron in the southern states and can be a vagrant in the northern US and Canada.
Often running in the water and stirring up silt from the bottom of its chosen venue, it behaves somewhat like the Snowy and Reddish Egret in its dance routine for prey. Often mantling to cast shadows to entice killifish and minnows, they will follow the Double-crested Cormorant or Pied-billed Grebe to snag what delicacies that they have left behind.
Favoring coastal estuaries, the Louisiana Heron could well be the single bird apart from the others, so no heron shapes bears not watching. Most predominant at Red Slough, they can also be found at Lake Hefner, Arcadia Lake, or Great Salt Plains where one of the earliest was found in 1980 in Oklahoma.
Tri-colored Heron
Bolivar Flats, TX 2015
The male selects breeding sites, and they are colonial nesters, often with others of the heron clan. The female is in charge of nest building, while the male gathers the material. The stick platform has a hollow within, which is lined with fine materials.
Climate change seems to be sending this species in a northeasterly direction, which is not uncommon.
The Tri-colored Heron is the only dark heron with a white belly.
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