Little Blue Heron

Egretta caerulea

Rangewide Distribution: Southeastern United States, East Coast & coastal Middle America
Abundance: Common
Breeding Habitat: Stream banks, marshes, ponds & reservoirs
Nest: Platform of sticks & twigs in low trees or shrubs, often above water
Eggs: 2-5 light bluish-green
Incubation: 20-23 days
Fledging: 42-49 days
image of Little Blue HeronA colony-nesting species that disperses statewide after the breeding season, Little Blue Herons are commonly seen near water. Most sightings represent birds which have dispersed from the colony area after breeding is completed. Late summer white-plumaged birds are immatures, which develop blotched slate blue and white plumage in their first spring as they molt to adult plumage.

Code Frequency

No nests were located in Atlas Project blocks, so no confirmations resulted. Many observations were concentrated in two areas of the Mississippi Lowlands near known colonies. A colony in Oklahoma was likely the source for the records in the southwestern Ozark and Osage Plains natural divisions. Large numbers of individuals observed in April, May and June usually indicate a colony nearby. Foraging could occur over a 15-30 kilometer radius from the colony but usually much less. In late June and early July, many individuals disperse from colonies, some likely from other states.

Distribution

Independent of the Atlas Project, three breeding colonies were identified in the Mississippi Lowlands near Charleston in Mississippi County, near Caruthersville in Pemiscot County and Sikeston in Scott County. The latter colony moved north of Sikeston in 1987 before disbanding entirely. As of 1994, two years after Atlas Project data collection ended, the Mississippi County colony had disappeared, presumed to have moved to an adjacent site in the Sikeston city limits. The Pemiscot County colony moved about 1.5 kilometers east although some herons remained. Movement of colonies is common for this and other heron species because excess birds leave to form new colonies, nest trees die and fall due to guano build up, foraging areas are lost, and sometimes human activities interfere. Previous nesting colonies in the Big Rivers and other natural divisions have disappeared and relocated frequently.
Average Number of Little Blue Herons / 100 stopsAverage Number of Birds / 100 stops

Abundance

Observers independent of the Atlas Project counted 50-100 individuals in the Sikeston sites; 500-1,000 in the Caruthersville site; and 50-1,420 in the Charleston site during 1986 to 1992.

Phenology

Robbins and Easterla (1992) documented the arrival of this species from late March to mid-April. After a 62-72 day incubation and fledging period (Ehrlich et al. 1988), they subsequently disperse by mid-July and are found statewide.

Breeding Evidence

Reported in 320 (26.5%) of 1,207 blocks

image of pie chart
Blocks % of Blocks
Probable 1 7.1%
  Possible 13 92.9%
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Home|Lists of Illustrations and Tables|Preface|Acknowledgments|Introduction|The Natural Divisions of Missouri|Guide to Species Accounts|Index of Bird Accounts|Appendix A.|Appendix B.|Appendix C.|Appendix D.|Appendix E.|Literature Cited

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