The Little Blue Heron is among our smaller herons and is a generalist in its diet of fish, crayfish, snails, and other small creatures. It often hunts alone and almost always in shallow water with emergent vegetation. It also joins with other herons, egrets, ibises, and spoonbills when water levels are declining and aquatic life is being concentrated. These herons are unusual in that for their first year of life they are all white and are migratory – perhaps to get away from adult Little Blue Herons that often chase the young away. The young head north – well beyond the species’ nesting range. They return south when cold winter weather arrives – never to go north again. Being “white” during their first year allows them to mix in with other white birds that have found food – and also provides them with “extra eyes” to watch for predators.
Little Blue Heron
