Immature little blue heron, Egretta caerulea, photographed by a reader in the northern reaches of the Okanagan Valley in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
Image: Dick Cannings, 12 November 2010 [velociraptorize].
Canon EOS 30D
Question: The location where this mystery bird was photographed will probably not help you identify this species because it is out of its typical range. However, that said, it is possible to identify this species, so look carefully and tell me what you think. Whilst researching this species for you, I ran across some very interesting life history traits that makes this bird unique. If you can ID this bird, then please do tell us about the unusual qualities this species has!
Response: This is an immature little blue heron, Egretta caerulea, indicated by its white plumage, dark wing tips and yellow legs. The young birds gradually acquire blue-grey plumage as they mature, making it the only heron species where the juveniles are white whilst the adults have dark plumage. When the young birds acquire their adult plumage, they go through a stage where they may have a pied white-and-grey color pattern.
Interestingly, little blue herons mingle with similarly-sized snowy egrets (snowy egrets can be readily identified by their black bills, yellow feet, and the yellow skin in front of their eyes). Adult snowy egrets tolerate these immature white birds much better than the darker adults. Another interesting feature of little blue herons is that the young birds catch more fish when they mingle with snowy egrets than when they strike out on their own.
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion