Tricolored Heron

 

As always, click the image to enlarge

A tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor) plies the waters of a coastal marsh in Brazoria County, Texas. I made this image and the following on January 12, 2026. I was down in the Lonestar State to deliver a talk at the annual Sadie Gwin Blackburn Environmental Seminar, hosted by the River Oaks Garden Club in Houston. My subject? Caterpillars! The tubular larvae of moths - and to a much lesser degree, in terms of biomass, butterflies, are receiving more of the richly due that they merit. It was a great group, and a fun conference, and also a Texas stone's throw from the Gulf Coast and scads of avian diversity.

So, once the conference concluded, Shauna and I headed south to the saline waters of the Gulf of MEXICO (hoping they restore its proper name in about two years) to see what we could drum up. We found plenty, but as usual I was particularly drawn to the herons. It was a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) that fired my imagine as a young kid and I've never lost my fascination with the lanky-legged waders. Thus, when the gorgeous animal in these photos presented itself at close range, my shutter started clicking away and I managed a few decent shots.

A portraiture shot of the gorgeous animal. Note that deep ruby-red eye. 

For us north of the border gringos, this southern species is primarily confined to Gulf and Atlantic coastal areas, from southern Texas to the southern New England states. It is mostly a permanent resident in its U.S. range, but vagrants wander far and wide, including to Ohio. We see one or two most (but not every) years, although vagrant tricolored herons seem to be appearing in fewer numbers, probably a consequence of an apparent decline on the overall population.

The svelte, white-bellied waders usually shun the company of other herons, and are active hunters, often rushing about, flapping their wings and making abrupt rapid lunges at piscivorous prey. Tricolored herons eat small fish almost exclusively, such as killifish, topminnows and other such fare.