little_blue_heron

Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)

Order: Pelecaniformes | Family: Ardeidae  | IUCN Status: Least Concern

little_blue_heron
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Florida, North America

little_blue_heron
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Mato Grosso, Brazil

little_blue_heron
Age: Juvenile | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Peru

little_blue_heron
Age: Sub-adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Manglares de Vice, Piura

Identification & Behavior: ~61 cm (24 in).  The adult Little Blue Heron has a gray-blue plumage with a bi-colored bill and dark greenish legs. Juvenile birds are all white with greenish legs and progressively acquire the blue-gray plumage of the adults. It forages in a variety of habitat types by always near water. Juvenile Little-blue Herons are similar to the Snowy Egret and Cattle Egret, but have greenish legs, pale iris, and bi-colored gray-and-black bill.

Status: The Little Blue Heron is uncommon along coastal wetlands and Amazonia. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, Bo, Ch.

Name in Spanish: Garcita Azul.

Sub-species: Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) Linnaeus, 1758.

Meaning of Name: Egretta: French aigrette= heron. caeruleus: L. blue, dark blue, bluish.

See more of the Family Ardeidae   peru aves

Distribution Map
little blue heronVoice

References:

    • Species range based on: Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, and L. Rico. 2006. Distribution maps of the birds of Peru, version 1.0. Environment, Culture & Conservation (ECCo). The Field Museum.  http://fm2.fieldmuseum.org/uw_test/birdsofperu on 01/01/2015.