Today's featured feathered friend is the Little Blue Heron. This medium-sized heron of the southeastern United States, can also be found throughout the Caribbean and Central America, and in parts of Mexico and South America.
The Little Blue Heron is roughly half the size and one-sixth the mass of the Great Blue Heron. They are 24 inches long, weigh about 12 ounces, with a wingspan of around 40 inches. Adult males and females are similar in appearance; dark bluish-gray bodies with maroon heads and necks, gray facial skin with greenish-yellow legs and feet. Their bills are deep-based, slightly downcurved, bluish-gray at the base with a dark tip. In breeding plumage the facial skin and the base of the bill turns to a stunning "cobalt" blue, while the legs turn dark. Juvenile Little Blues are all white and can easily be misidentified as a Snowy Egret. Juveniles have a dark tipped, pale gray bill, with greenish-yellow legs and feet. As they age, bluish-gray feathers begin to molt into their white plumage creating a splotchy appearance.
Enjoy some of our favorite photos of the gorgeous Little Blue Heron.....tweet.....tweet!!
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Little Blue Heron
(Taken 2/1/14, Bunche Beach, San Carlos Bay, Ft. Myers FL) |
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Little Blue Heron (In Breeding Plumage)
(Taken 3/29/13, Circle B Bar Reserve, Lakeland FL) |
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Juvenile Little Blue Heron (all white plumage)
(Taken 11/10/13, Honeymoon Island State Park, Dunedin FL) |
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Juvenile Little Blue Heron (adult feathers coming in)
(Taken 5/4/12, Casa De Meadows pond, Englewood FL) |
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Little Blue Heron
(Taken 2/1/14, Bunche Beach, San Carlos Bay, Ft. Myers FL) |
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