It’s agility dog show weekend which means we are packing up the steel mule and heading out to…well, somewhere other than here. I am generally told the destination at some point between getting on and getting off the mule. If I am lucky I packed enough underwear for whatever length of stay it turns out to be (yep, I cheat and get an idea of how many days and climate zones are being crossed by seeing what Linda ends up packing). She also indicated I don’t need to bring running clothes, so this one sounds fairly shot. While out, Brad will once again be at the helm of the Intrigued armada. Fingers crossed he keeps the flowers watered and more importantly, prevents our lawyers from throwing a kegger – last time I left they papered all the inside walls with photocopies of their butts. We had to disinfect the copier before the rest of our departments would even come near it. Good luck Brad ha!
Take it away Captain…
I often wonder where the names come from for some of the birds I see and photograph. Many are very obvious: red-winged blackbird for example. (Even though it should really be the “red with a splotch of yellow”-winged blackbird.) Or the red-headed woodpecker. Nailed that one. Not so obvious is the red-bellied woodpecker (have to look very close to see the red, and if you are close enough to see it you are probably too close).
Today’s subject is no different. While technically not “technicolor”, it is tricolored. No, not the RGB (red/green/blue) colors so many former IT people know about. But there are certainly more than the three main colors as the name implies. At first glance, tricolored herons (Egretta tricolor) look like a miniature version of the great blue heron in stature and color. However, when this one turned towards us there is a bright white patch on its throat and breast.
Hit the jump to read more about this Great Blue Heron mini-me!
My first thought was, “How does it keep that so clean? It’s wading around in shallow muddy water all the time.” The tricolored heron (a +1 for me) was fishing around the edges when it spotted a great egret doing much of the same. It is just after 11:00 am at Huntington Beach State Park on a mostly sunny day in February. I figured this must be part of the lunch rush to the wading bird equivalent of a food truck. The tricolored is probably thinking, “I wonder if I sneak up behind that egret if I can cut in line.”
Pay no attention to me. Knowing the great egret probably knew where the fish were, it decided to stalk the egret. All of this is purely speculation on my part and has nearly zero scientific basis. The tricolored slowly waded over to “meet” the great egret.
The size difference isn’t very obvious in this photo, but the tricolored is only 2/3 the size of the great egret: 26 inches tall compared to 39 inches for the great egret. (36” vs. 55” for their respective wingspans)
Isn’t this chance alignment cute? We were there in late February, a week after the 14th. After a few seconds, the great egret was having none of it and struck out at the tricolored. The tricolored heron “ran” off, well, as close to running as any heron ever gets when moving through the water. Herons and egrets do not normally move very quickly, except when a meal is spotted or they feel threatened.
Tricolored herons are sometimes canopy feeders. Much like the great egret, or the reddish heron, they spread their wings to provide a little bit of shade over the water. Small fish will swim towards the shade. When the tricolored sees the fish gathering in the shady spot, it quickly strikes to collect a snack. We did not see this particular behavior, but it sounds really cool. “All” we saw was the slower and just as dramatic hunt and peck style.
Hunt and peck fishing involves the tricolored heron slowly wading around. When it sees a fish it slams its bill into the water to grab the fish. This happens very quickly and there’s almost no warm-up to queue on for a photograph.
Another method is called “fishing on the fly”. The tricolored heron will fly low over the water dragging one or both feet in the water to startle its prey. Then it simply grabs whatever it wants and flies away. I think that’s what was happening here, but soon after the heron ran out of water and had to fly off to avoid crashing into the reeds. We had a very good view of the spotless white breast.
Using my fantastic bird interpretation skills, I was able to discern that this heron had to be thinking, “Maybe there’s something over here that’s yummy to eat.”
With a consistent food supply, a tricolored heron can live up to 17 years in the wild. Nearly 90% of their diet is fish (called piscivores) but they will also snack on small amphibians, crustaceans, worms, or insects. Though tricolored herons tend to be solitary feeders, they often nest in large colonies with other wading birds. Similar to other herons or egrets, the tricolored heron is monogamous during the mating season. A pair will raise 3-4 chicks which fledge about 35 days after hatching. Once they fly, the chicks are pretty much on their own.
Tricolored herons are threatened in parts of their range mainly to habitat loss and degradation. Ravens, crows, red-winged blackbirds, and boat-tailed grackles all prey on the unhatched eggs.
Remember, I’m only inferring what I think the heron was thinking, but it sure looked like it was thinking, “Gotta go. I think I saw some small fish over there.”
Thank you for reading. If you want to see more bird photos from our South Carolina winter escape, please visit here.
Credits
Thanks again to Jan and Allyson for proofreading and editing. Thanks to Jan for some of the photos in this article.
Wildlife Intrigued 
In “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” the granny makes sure she wore clean underwear for their trip. She didn’t want the authorities to find her wearing dirty undies if she was killed. Good thinking on her part. You are a good man to pack plenty of underwear on your way to somewhere. Great Great Blue Heron shots. The photo with the GBH and Egret crossing beaks super. Have a great time going to the dogs.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hi Tim. I will let on Brian comment on the need for “enough” underwear. I can say Thank You for the nice comments on the Tricolored heron photos. The tricolor and egret were aligned that way for, maybe, half of a second. I was only able to capture three images: the hear forming, the heart, and the heart un-forming. That was it. Jan had roughly the same images from her camera. Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love it when people get those split second shots like that. So cool. Brian can comment on the underdogs.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Me too! I’d rather be lucky than good for some of these photos. That’s not something you can really plan for.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You mean my Underdog Underoos!?!
LikeLike
I suppose so. Speaking of, did you see that Steel Panther was on AGT? I saw a clip on YouTube last night. I remember we were discussing that they could go mainstream if they cleaned up their lyrics. Maybe they can do it despite their dirty lyrics.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had not seen that until I saw your comment and found it on YouTube ..both the video they released ahead of the judging and then the one with the judges’ responses – honestly thought you were pulling my leg before that ha. They picked the one song they didn’t need to clean up much… but now they made it through to the second round so no idea what they are going to do .. maybe Asian Hookers or go all out and do Community Property – that will shock the crowd ha. Truthly my money is on “1987” as that has probably the least number of changes needed, but we will see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. 1987 is pretty clean. Can they sing “Like fresh Colombian cocaine off a 19-year-old breast” on AGT?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just up Satchel’s guitar volume to 11 and likely the judges won’t even hear the lyric or switch it to coffee from a 19 yr old Keurig ha.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ha, not so much authorities with my Mom, rather she didn’t want to be embarrassed when she had to take me to the emergency room so dirty underwear was never allowed – there was a LOT of bloodloss during my childhood years – which is the root of my needle phobia – all those numbing shots before the stitches hurt like hell.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Between motocycles and horses, I was a bloody mess growing up. When I was 8, I had a rare disease in my knees. I had to go in every week for a year before they figured out what the problem was, and have my knees drained. The doctor stuck a huge needle under each kneecap and sucked out a large amount of fluid that look like beer from each knee. No deadning. It took 3 nurses to hold me down at first. I finally got where I simply dealt with the pain. I have no fear of needles, which is good because I got poked a lot during cancer treatments.
LikeLiked by 1 person
3 nurses… I don’t think there is enough nurses in the entire hospital that could hold me down if I had to go through that!!!! I commend you for overcoming the stabs, I am sure you got your share of pokes during your treatments – got to witness what my mother had to go through and I respect anyone that has to endure that. Truth is, I get more agitated by the sight of my own blood than I do of the needles..likely because that was always a precursor to the shots, but to this day I consider every drop of my blood essential to the well being of the temple – cover up the wound…back to being a happy camper. Still have nightmare visions of seeing the wound when I nearly cut my leg off at the knee (back then I had skinny legs) thanks to an unexpected piece of glass embedded in the ground where we were playing a competitive game of pitch-back. Eeesh, now I need to go throw up…take care of yourself Tim!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Speaking of throwing up, I had cut my right calf to the bone when I hit something on my dirt bike a week before starting my freshman year in high school. Crutches bound was not a good way to start high school. I got a lot of grief from the students my first week of school. After some band kids pestered me enough to show them the stitched up, inflamed, bloody cut on my calf, one of the girls threw up at the sight of my wound. Served her right. I was supposed to be on catches from a month. I chucked them after two weeks because all the trouble I got at school. Had I mentioned I hated high school and dropped out when I was 16?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Was not aware you dropped out of HS – hopefully not just because of some band geeks (I can say that because I married one ha). You would think riding dirt bikes would give you some instant high school cred and everyone knows chicks dig scars – Shane Falco even said so “Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever, it’s been an honor sharing the field of battle with you” (one of my favorite movies of all time). Luckily my deep gash occurred during the summer – bad for my summer fun, but at least I didn’t have to deal with schoolmates.
LikeLike
I started working for an artisan woodworker in the summer of 1975. HS was still on split sessions do to overcrowding. I had an English class, four band classes, and I was the drum major for the marching band. When I started back that fall I was still working part-rime and I realized everything about HS was ridiculous. I transferred to night school and went back to full-time woodworking. I dropped out after the year of night school. I worked in woodworking and construction up to 1979 when I enrolled in the university full-time and worked all kinds of weird part-time jobs to put my self through the university. I finished my Master’s Degree in 1983.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, that makes sense, I didn’t think what I know about your current occupation was an endpoint for dropping out of HS. Kudos to you for going back as that is definitely harder than the usual path as you assuredly had more things on your plate by then. Our parents didn’t have an opportunity for a full university degree (father did get to go for a year I think – somewhat vague, but the draft played in there somewhere), so college was a given for my brothers and I.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My dad went to college on the GI bill at the end of WWII and he was the first member of the Price side of the family to get a bachelor’s degree. I was the second to get a bachelor’s degree and the first to get a master’s degree. My dad worked in medical electronics after working on H-bombs for 10 years.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Did your dad work with Richard Feynman and the rest of the bomb guys down there?
LikeLiked by 1 person
He probably Did. He never talked about the poeple he worked with. Mostly about the bombs and their destructive power, and how the wiped out his instruments.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I first started birdwatching, I had a heck of a time keeping Tricolors and Great Blues separate, and my initial id’s were often incorrect. I finally learned that the key that seems consistently reliable is the black upper bill on the Great Blue, where the Tri has pure yellow. This even works with the juveniles, when other features like the GB’s very heavy black eyebrow is not visible. When the birds are neck-deep in the reeds, it helps! Loved your photos, especially the “valentine” – nicely done!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks very much Sam. I had all of these tricolors tagged as GBH at first. Then I noticed the white patches and started flipping pages in my bird books. With no size comparison, they do look very similar I’ve learned. I also had to re-tag a bunch of photos of snowy egrets and juvenile little blue herons (future post coming soon to Wildlife Intrigued). I didn’t even notice the heart shape until we reviewed the photos later that evening back at the hotel. Appreciate you stopping by.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great tip on the black upper bill for the GBH, will add it to my mental field notes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You guys sound like Mike and I. He worries about having enough underwear and I pack three times too many outfits. But, hey, I was once a Girl Scout, so I’m always prepared. 😁 Loved the heron/egret shots. Travel safely!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Kellye and Mike. Thanks for the kind words. As my father-in-law says “even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.” It was our first experience with that many wading birds so the shutters were in nearly constant motion. We didn’t even know we had the photo until later; always a nice surprise when that happens. I’ll let Brian comment on his preparedness for travel. Jan was a Girl Scout and a Troup leader for many years and is much better at packing than I am, though am getting better. On one of our island trips I chose to wear my hiking boots on the plane, in the tropics, because if I packed them that’s 2-3 days worth of clothing I wouldn’t have been able to take along. Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think there his a common theme here, Linda is a life member of the Girl Scout organization – used to teach horseback riding for the various girl scout troops in her area. I don’t really have an excuse as I lasted only like 2 months in Boy Scouts, but I have Mom’s childhood wisdom running around in my head – never go to the emergency room without clean underwear (as I mentioned to Tim above, I was a steady customer of the ER when I was growing up)! Thanks for dropping in Kellye
LikeLike
I love watching any and all wading birds, but have yet to see a Tricolored Heron. Congratulations on your life bird, Brad.
The size difference between heron and egret comes out very well in your photo that shows the two crossing paths. Too bad the egret didn’t like to stay close to the heron. I guess it didn’t want to share the fish.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Tanja. Being relatively new to birding I didn’t even know there was a tricolored heron. And when you are new to birding, nearly everything you see is a +1. We have GBH’s around us in Illinois, but other varieties are mostly non-existent. I was doubly surprised when I paid attention to the photos later that day. We get the occasional great egret near the rivers, or a cattle egret blown off course. None of the waders seem to share very well, and many look for scraps from the larger versions. Always fun to watch the various behaviors, wherever we happen to be. Glad you stopped by.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck on getting that Tricolored checked off Tanja – they really are a joy to watch when they are dancing in the water.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice job Brad and company. Hopefully you are getting well compensated for these stand ins you are doing for the upper management who seems he has issues with underwear packing.😳🙄 Hummm… sounds very fishy. No wonder the lawyers are running amuck.😂
Love all these types of birds as being a canoe and kayak person I see many in the places I paddle. Thanks for sharing your shots and holding down the fort.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Not sure why the reply disconnected from your comment (see below).
LikeLike
Hey now, let’s not give Brad any ideas…and I prefer to view my issues as “happy little nuances” (Linda on the other hand refers to them as deep seeded flaws..but she STILL married me ha. Good news on the lawyer front, Brad got them all back in line while I was away – not sure how he did it, but there wasn’t a single buttshot on the walls when we got back. Oh, think you will appreciate that Linda and I successfully made it through our first kayak outing today. Just on a lake, but we were testing out our new 2-person inflatable version (easier to haul with us on vacations). We managed to make it back to the launch without beating the crap out of each other with the oars hehehe, so HUGE success! Take care CJ.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good job on the kayak! The first step and coordination is always a learning curve, luckily you both survived!😂 Brad must have blackmailed the lawyers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, we still have some learning to do..I have to first stop having to think so much on which direction the kayak will go based on which side I’m paddling on and Linda needs to …well, start paddling hehehehehe. The good news is we didn’t argue much and we both enjoyed the experience so looking forward to the next outing. I am extra excited about all the new birding opportunities it provides – wasn’t sure what to expect, so left the camera at home on this trial run, but it turned out to be a lot more stable than I expected. I don’t know what Brad did, but he has definitely earned the right to be in charge the next time Linda and I head out into the field.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😂🤣🛶🥳
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks CJ! I’ll have to bring it up during my next performance review at Intrigued. I can certainly see a cost reduction in copier paper for the Legal department.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Whoa, whoa whoa, let’s not get ahead of ourselves…..(note, I will give you credit for the reduction in copier paper, you exceeded expectations there).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great job! Anytime someone can save a tree and stop lawyers from doing stupid stuff I feel it is a win/win for everyone! Keep up the good work.😂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you. And yes, I stay as far from Legal as I can.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice series on the Tricolored Heron!
Which used to be known as the Louisiana Heron until some “expert” figured out the things had wings and flew around to other states.
Which should probably be called “Multi-colored Heron” but other herons have multiple colors, too.
Birding is fun. Taxonomy is taxing.
(Solved the underwear packing dilemma many years ago. “Sweetheart, would mind helping me choose what to pack?”. Now I just worry which lenses to take knowing I’ll be fresh and wrinkle-free for the duration of the trip.)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Wally! Agree on bird naming. Sometimes it’s very obvious why a bird has the name it does (eg. red-headed woodpecker). Other times the names are based on the region or the continent where the bird is found. I, too, worry more about cameras and lenses than what I’m wearing. Though I do prioritize my hat and sunscreen and something light and long sleeved for sun, bugs, twigs, etc. Plus extra batteries and memory cards. Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
Now that sounds like a good idea, just need to convince Linda to pack for me. A much as I whine (her word) about having to pack, you would think she would just do it for me. Unfortunately, I used that “technique” up with the laundry ha.
LikeLike
I so enjoyed this foray with the tricolored heron, Brad. When I read you saw a tricolored at Huntington Beach I thought, “Huh?” Because there are no tricoloreds on the west coast. So I was glad for the link, to see that this Huntington Beach is in SC where tricoloreds do live. Since we do not have this species in Calif., I can never get enough of them and so appreciated all the photos here. Your photos were a real treat and I especially liked the one of the egret and tricolored facing off.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Jet, apologies for the confusion on Huntington Beach. Coincidentally, I’ve been to the one on the West Coast as well. I’m very glad you liked the tricolored photos. It was a nice surprise finding out it wasn’t just a small Great Blue heron and was a +1 for the trip. You’ll have to try Huntington Beach on the East Coast. I’ll be near-ish the one on the West Coast this fall, but not quite close enough. Thanks for flying by.
LikeLiked by 2 people