The Little Blue Heron is a medium-sized wading bird that wears two entirely different outfits over its life. Adults are a distinctive slaty blue-gray with a purplish wash on the head and neck, while juveniles are pure white and can be mistaken for a Snowy Egret — until you note the dull greenish legs and the pale, dark-tipped, bicolored bill. Birds in transition show a patchy "calico" mix of white and blue as they molt from immature to adult plumage, an unmistakable if untidy look.
A southern heron, the Little Blue Heron reaches Michigan only as a rare visitor, most often in late summer when white immatures disperse north from southern breeding colonies. It stalks the shallows of marshes, pond edges, and flooded fields more slowly and deliberately than the frenetic Snowy Egret, patiently hunting fish, frogs, and crustaceans. A calico or slaty-blue Little Blue Heron among the commoner herons is a rewarding find for the state's birders.
Hunts fish, crustaceans, frogs, and aquatic insects by stalking slowly and deliberately through shallow water, striking to seize prey. It forages more patiently than the active Snowy Egret, often in freshwater marshes, pond edges, and flooded fields.
Juvenile Little Blue Herons are entirely white for their first year, only gradually molting to the slaty-blue adult plumage. Birds in transition show a patchy "calico" mix of white and blue.
The immature Little Blue Heron has dull greenish legs and a pale, dark-tipped bicolored bill, and lacks the bright yellow feet of the Snowy Egret, which has black legs and a slim black bill.
Only as a rare visitor, most often in late summer when white immatures wander north from southern colonies. Any Little Blue Heron in the state is a notable record.
First-year Little Blue Herons are entirely white and are routinely mistaken for Snowy Egrets. Look for the two-toned bill with a black tip and the dull greenish legs, and for the blotchy blue-and-white 'calico' stage in their second spring.
They nest in rookeries with other wading birds farther south, but Michigan's birds are almost always lone wanderers rather than part of any group.
Other birds you might be looking at instead.
Pick the park — it takes less than ten seconds.
Start typing the bird's name, then pick it from the list.
Suggest a birding spot to add to the map. I'll review it before it appears.
Thanks! Your suggestion has been sent for review.
Found something wrong or out of date? Tell me what to fix — it goes straight to my inbox. (No email needed.)
Thank you — your note is on its way. I appreciate the help keeping this accurate.