Little Blue Herons are medium in size among herons – bigger than a Green Heron, but much smaller than a Great Blue Heron. The “blue color” of adults often tends towards gray and it helps them blend in with their aquatic environment. This heron is unusual in that its juvenile plumage is all white – a characteristic that allows it to blend in with other white birds – which it readily does, thus gaining “group” protection from potential predators and access to food resources found by the other species. Adults are much more solitary.
During their first year, juvenile Little Blue Herons migrate north, taking advantage of other food resources, but when cold weather comes, they migrate back to the south where they molt into their adult plumage. Their molt into adult plumage is generally not completed until their second summer. Molting juveniles are often referred to as “Calico Herons” – a reference to the very noticeable mix of old and new feathers. In looking at a Calico Heron, one can easily see that the transition is symmetrical. When a feather is replaced on the right side, the same feather on the left side is also replaced.