Tri-colored Heron – foraging with style!

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Very small fish make up more than 90% of the Tricolored Heron (TCH)’s diet, so it always amazes me how much energy they invest in catching these little morsels of food! ☺️

Unlike Great Blue Herons and Little Blue Herons, who are very deliberate, slow and patient foragers, the Tricoloreds are generally much more active.

I especially love the very colorful way Birds of the World describes the TCH’s various foraging behaviors 😁!!

All quotes below are from Birds of the World.

“Standing-and-waiting, walking slowly, running pursuit, followed by low crouch and quick, nearly horizontal, slanting stabs into water.”

“Active pursuit is common in two forms: loping, chases, with flapping wings, and lunging strikes, or tight pirouetting while turning in direction of open wing.”

A bit more wing action is often included, as are several other “hovering, sallying, skimming and… aerial foraging techniques”. But, you get the idea! 😉

NOTE: ‘Birds of the World is a collaborative ornithological platform that brings together deep, scholarly content from several celebrated works of ornithology . . . Birds of the World is available by subscription to anyone in the world . . . (Birds of the World).’

17 thoughts on “Tri-colored Heron – foraging with style!”

  1. A masterclass in avian, rhythmic grace! 💃 The Tricolored Heron earns a gold-medal place. 🥇 While siblings stand as statues, cold and still, 🗿 This bird performs with such kinetic thrill. ⚡

    With pirouettes and leaps across the tide, 🌊 It turns a frantic meal to rhythmic stride. 👣 A dash, a lunge, a horizontal stab— 🗡️ A feathered dancer, never dull or drab. 🩰

    It’s nature’s gift, a wonder to behold, ✨ In frantic hunts, a story to be told. 📖 For even in the search for tiny prey, 🐟 Divine design illuminates the day. ☀️

    I see them now, with wings of sheer delight, 🌬️ Converting hunger into sheer, raw light. 💡 A masterpiece of evolution’s art— 🎨 A choreography that warms the heart. ❤️

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