Tuesday, August 30, 2011

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.


5 comments:

Leora said...

Love the little blue heron. Trying to think if I've ever seen any kind of heron in real life. Interesting how they blend with the egrets.

Kay L. Davies said...

Wow, fascinating about the Little Blue Heron chicks and the egrets, but it makes so much sense.
I've seen plenty of Great Blue Herons but never the Little ones this far north.
— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Jane and Chris said...

I'm a retired wildlife rehabber, I'm looking forward to more in this series!!

Judy said...

They sure look different from the great blues that I have seen around here.

Windchime said...

I love the pictures, and it was very interesting to read about these birds. I've seen great blue herons where I live. Thanks for sharing!