Tricolored Heron

Overview
Tricolored Heron: Medium heron, blue-gray upperparts, head, neck, wings, paler rump, white stripe on foreneck, white belly. Also has white plumes on back of head and rust-brown plumes on lower neck, back during the breeding season. Bill and legs are olive-brown. Direct flight on steady wing beats.

Range and Habitat
Tricolored Heron: Breeds in southeastern New Mexico and Texas, on the Gulf Coast, and along the Atlantic coast north to southern Maine (rarely). Spends winters along the coast from Texas and New Jersey south to northern South America and West Indies. Preferred habitats include swamps, bayous, coastal ponds, salt marshes, mangrove islands, mudflats, and lagoons.

The Tricolored Heron has a large range, estimated globally at 1,300,000 square kilometers. Native to the Americas and nearby island nations, this bird prefers wetland, marine, and forest ecosystems. The global population of this bird has not been fully determined but does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Tricolored Heron is Least Concern.

INTERESTING FACTS
The Tricolored Heron is the only dark colored heron with a white belly. One of the most abundant herons found in the Deep South, it was formerly called the Louisiana Heron. A group of herons has many collective nouns, including a "battery", "hedge", "pose", "rookery", and "scattering" of herons."