Little Blue Heron

June 16, 2016

Little Blue Heron
Egretta caerulea

by Nick Bonomo
What it looks like: The Little Blue Heron is a medium-sized heron that in adult plumage is a uniform blue-gray in color. Young birds are white and slowly acquire the adult’s dark plumage over the first two years of life, one feather at a time. The transitional young birds can appear pied and patchy, mixing white and dark feathers side-by-side in variable patterns.

The bi-colored bill is a good field mark at all ages: pale blue-gray at its base and black towards the tip. Leg color, always important to note when identifying herons and egrets, is usually a pale, dull green but can become darker in breeding plumage at this time of year.

An all-white immature Little Blue (left) can appear quite similar to a Snowy Egret of any age (left, below). About the same size, the Snowy Egret will show black legs with yellow feet and a black bill that is sometimes gray at the base. Great Egret, a much larger species, can be easily distinguished by its bright orange-yellow bill and black legs and feet.

Where to find it: This species is strictly an inhabitant of coastal saltmarshes. It occasionally appears inland later in summer when the odd young bird is prone to wander. Places to search include Compo Beach in Westport, Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, and Plum Bank Marsh in Old Saybrook. A survey this week found a pair nesting on Cockenoe Island, one of the Norwalk Islands.

When to look: The first Little Blues arrive in April and stay into October, sometimes later.

Conservation status: The IUCN considers Little Blue Heron as a species of “Least Concern,” with a large and stable population.

Photos by Dick Daniels, Carolinabirds.org.