Little Blue Heron

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Little Blue Herons are stark white their first year before taking on a distinctive slate blue plumage. Although their head and neck often have a maroon tinge, they’re not as shaggy as the Reddish Egret, which is found only near salt water.

The white plumage of the juveniles enables them to blend in with other white birds such as Snowy Egret and Great Egret, making them less vulnerable to predators.

Little Blue Herons forage in marshes, ponds, streams and lakes for small fish, frogs, crawfish and other aquatic animals. They have the typical gait of a heron, slow and methodical and then lightning fast when striking at prey.

While they usually forage alone, Little Blue Herons breed in colonies, building nests of long sticks in trees and shrubs, often in the company of other herons. They lay two to five pale, bluish-green eggs.