Tricolored Heron

Description:

The Tricolored Heron measures about 26 inches long and weighs 13 ounces, with a 36-inch wingspan. Long, slim, and ornately colored, this fancy egret has notably long legs, neck, and bill. Contrasting with straw colored back plumes, the upper parts, including the head and neck, are slate blue. Below the base of the neck, the under-parts are white. During breeding season, the Tricolored Heron sports a short white head plume, a buffy throat and fore-neck, a blue face, and a blue bill, tipped with black. The eyes are reddish, and the legs pinkish. Nonbreeding adults have a yellow face, bill, and legs; the throat and fore-neck are white. On juvenile Tricolored Herons, rusty red adorns the head, neck, upper back, and the front parts of the wings.

Habitat:

brushy wetland