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Description:
Little Blue Herons are medium-sized wading birds with a long
beak, neck, and legs. They are 24 inches tall with a wingspan of
approximately 40 inches. Their body is slaty blue with maroon on the head
and neck. During the breeding season, they grow long plumes on the crown,
neck, and back. Their beak is pale blue with a black tip, and appears
slightly curved. Juveniles are mostly white, with gray tips on the
primaries and pale greenish legs. They fly with the neck tucked in near
the body, and the feet stretched out past the tail
Range:
Southern and eastern coasts of the United States; Mexico, West
Indies, Central America, and most of northern South America
Habitat:
Wetlands
Diet:
In the wild, they eat crabs, crayfish, and aquatic insects.
Occasionally they also eat spiders, small fish, frogs, lizards, snakes, or
turtles. In the zoo, our herons eat bird of prey diet.
Life
Cycle:
Little Blue Herons breed in the spring. They join mixed
colonies of other wading birds, usually choosing nest sites around the
edges of the group. They nest in trees, over water or as close to it as
possible. The nest is a simple platform of sticks or reeds, sometimes so
thin that the eggs can be seen from below. Their eggs are pale
blue-green. Females usually lay 4-5 eggs in a clutch, and incubate for
22-24 days. The chicks hatch with their eyes closed, and are covered with
pale gray down. They are fed regurgitated food. They fledge after
approximately 30 days, and are fed by their parents until they are about
50 days old.
Did You Know?
·
Like other herons, Little Blue Herons are specialized for
capturing live prey. The sixth vertebra in the neck is elongated, giving
the neck a kinked S-shape that can be extended quickly, functioning as a
harpoon during prey capture.
·
They swallow most of their prey whole. Any parts that can’t
be digested, such as insects’ exoskeletons, is expelled as a pellet.
·
In Florida, they sometimes follow behind feeding manatees,
catching the small animals that the manatees disturb.
·
After the breeding season, many Little Blue Herons
(especially juveniles) disperse to the north, sometimes reaching Canada
and even Greenland before returning to their breeding grounds. These
post-breeding trips allow the birds to find new food sources and sometimes
colonize new locations.
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