Little Blue Heron

 This February we decided to take a trip down to south Texas for a week. This is about the fifth time we have made this trip. It is a great place to go in the winter. Michelle likes getting away from the Minnesota winter and enjoying the sun. I go for the wildlife. The Rio Grande in south Texas is probably the best birding location in the United States. There are many species of birds there that cannot be found any where else in the US. There are also many different species of butterflies and dragonflies. Unfortunately we went a little earlier this year so there were not as many insects as we have seen on past trips.

 This year we were able to photograph quite a few new life birds. This however was not one of them. The little blue heron is fairly common around the gulf coast. But just because it is common in Texas does not mean that it is not something special for us to photograph. This is a species that we do not see here in the cold waters of Minnesota.It was fun to watch this one hunting around the vegetation. Several different times he caught what appeared to be crustaceans of some sort.

Little Blue Heron

 The little blue heron is a small member of the egret genus that is found in wetlands around the gulf coast, through Central America and into northern portions of South America. Most little blue herons stay with in the same range that they breed in through out the year. Although there is a small population that moves inland into the southern U.S. to breed and then moves back to the coast over the winter.

Little blue herons often live, feed and nest in colonies of mixed herons and egrets. When a young little blue heron hatches it is covered in white down. As they grow the white down feathers are replaced with a white immature plumage. The little blue will stay white for its first year of life. This helps the immature birds to mix in with flocks of great and snowy egrets which helps to provide a bit of security for the young bird against predators. These pictures where taken on South Padre Island on Gulf Coast of Texas.

Little Blue Heron

The little blue heron is a small heron that is found in the southern portion of the Atlantic coast, the Gulf Coast, Mexico, Central America, and portions of South America. Although it is typically found in coastal areas it prefers to live in fresh water habitats such as marshes, swamps, ponds, rivers and other wetlands.
The little blue heron is a communal nester, often nesting with other species of herons as well as egrets. The stick nest is built by both adults, the male presenting sticks to the female who uses them to build the nest. Little blue heron chicks are all white for their first year of life. While they are young they are more accepted by white egrets, snowy and great, and will often catch more fish while they are around snowy egrets. It is believed that the white coloration helps the young to blend in with the white egrets, which have a higher population, thus increasing their chances of survivability.

Taking the Plunge

The little blue heron is a small heron found in the southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and portions of South America. Although they are usually found in coastal areas they prefer to live in fresh water habitats such as ponds, lakes and marshes. Their diet consists of fish, crustaceans, frogs, and aquatic insects which they slowly stalk through the water. Once with in range they lunge quickly and jab the prey with their long beak. Several studies suggest that their success rate is about 60%. This heron, that I photographed at the South Padre Birding and Nature Center in Texas, was successful but the prey must have been pretty small since he had it swallowed before I had a chance to see what it caught.

Herons and Egrets

There seemed to be a little bit of confusion with the birds that I featured in my post yesterday, so I decided that today I would try and help clear things up. This first bird, pictured above, is called a little blue heron. The little blue heron stands at about 24 inches with a 40 inch wingspan. One of the primary field markings that help distinguish this bird from other herons is the two toned slate blue and black bill.

This next bird is the tricolored heron. It stands at about 26 inches with a 36 inch wingspan. The tricolored heron has a thinner and longer neck then the little blue heron. The tricolored is the only heron that has a dark breast and white belly and it is the only heron with red eyes other then the night herons, which do not have long necks.

The reddish egret looks similar to the little blue except that it is larger, standing at around 30 inches with a 46 inch wingspan. The reddish egret also has a two toned bill, like the little blue heron, but it is pink with a black tip. They can also be distinguished by the way that they forage for food. The little blue moves quietly through the water with its head tipped forward ready to strike while the reddish egret runs around almost frantically often jumping and flapping its wings.

I hope this post clears up any questions that anyone had.

South Padre Island Birding and Center

On our second full day in Texas we decided to visit the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center which is located on South Padre Island near the Convention Center. This is a pretty new park and facility which is associated with the World Birding Center. The center focus of the park is the visitors center which is loaded with interactive exhibits, auditoriums, classrooms, gift shop and topped off with a five story observation tower. The tower provides a great view of the entire park as well as parts of the island and the Laguna Madre. Just be careful or you might find yourself stuck like I did. I decided to go out on the balcony to get a better look only to find that no one had unlocked the doors yet, we got there right at opening, and so the door locked behind me. Thank goodness Michelle finally rescued me.

The park consists of 43 acres of various types of habitat including freshwater ponds, island scrub brush, brackish and saltwater marshes. Winding through the different habitats there is 4800 linear feet of boardwalks and paths as well as 7 different blinds.

The main subjects to photograph here were waterfowl and wading birds. We spotted six different types of herons and egrets, including the great egret, snowy egret, reddish egret, great blue heron, tricolored heron and the little blue heron, which is pictured above.

They were also some wading birds that we do not often get to see here in Minnesota such as the black-legged stilt, white ibis, endangered brown pelican, and the roseate spoonbill, which is pictured above. We were excited about the spoonbills, even though we have seen them on most of our trips to Florida, because this was the closest that we have ever been able to get to these spectacular birds.

Besides the waterfowl and waders there were also quite a few shorebirds including log-billed curlew, American wimbrel, least and semipalmated sandpiper.

However this park is not just for the birds. We spotted this turtle, which I believe is a red-eared slider swimming around one of the fresh water ponds. Red-eared sliders are often used as pets.

There were also a few predators hanging out in the park. At one point a northern harrier, sometimes referred to as a marsh hawk, flew lowly over the grass in search of prey and in the water there was an even larger predator. The American alligator often floats motionless on the top of the water, looking a lot like an old log, waiting for prey to get close enough where it can spring its trap.

Immature Little Blue Heron

We found this immature little blue heron hunting the reeds of the Shark Valley Unit of the Everglades National Park.

Little blue herons are the only heron species that the immature birds vastly differ in color from the mature birds. First year birds, like the one pictured here are pure white while adults are blue in color.

Remaining white for the first year of life is an advantage to the young little blue herons. It allows them to join mixed flocks of white herons more easily, which helps protect them from predators. White little blue herons also get along better and are more accepted by snowy egrets. When I first saw this bird I thought it might be a white phase reddish egret. However when I got a close look at the beak and legs I figured that it had to be a little blue. The white phase reddish egret has blueish-gray legs and has a two-toned pink and black bill. As you can see the immature little blue heron has a two-toned blue and black bill and greenish-yellow legs.

I think the coolest thing about these birds are their huge feet. They are almost as big as the birds head, and look at those nails. They look like they could do some damage if they needed to but most the time they are used to run away.