I love the way AllAboutBirds.org describes the Little Blue Heron.
“A small, dark heron arrayed in moody blues and purples, the Little Blue Heron is a common but inconspicuous resident of marshes and estuaries in the Southeast,” the website says.
Neighborhoods with ponds or lakes are likely to attract this bird too, which is why it’s probably one of the most seen herons. I photographed my first one at the Orlando Wetlands in January 2023 when I was learning more about birds. I didn’t know what it was called, but I knew it looked pretty.
They’re also sociable birds. Though you might see one alone, I often see Little Blue Herons mixed in with flocks of other birds.
When they are young, Little Blue Herons don’t stand out as much because they aren’t blue. They’re white, then morph into white with black before getting their adult coloring.
Here are some of my favorite pictures I have taken of Little Blue Herons.
Snowy Egret, Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, August 2024.A Little Blue Heron hangs out along the Black Point Wildlife Drive on Merritt Island in October 2023.Little Blue Heron, Black Point Wildlife Drive on Merritt Island, December 2023.Little Blue Heron, Black Point Wildlife Drive on Merritt Island, December 2023.Little Blue Heron, Orlando Wetlands Park, November 2023.A Little Blue Heron sits on a dead tree overlooking the Orlando Wetlands on an overcast day in June 2023.Though you mostly see them in water, this Little Blue Heron takes to the sky over Orlando Wetlands in August 2023.A Little Blue Heron dances in a pond to try to round up some food at Black Point Wildlife Drive on Merritt Island in July 2023.A Little Blue Heron acts like a Reddish Egret as it dances around in a pond on Black Point Wildlife Drive in July 2023.Juvenile Little Blue Heron in morph mode, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, June 2024.Juvenile Little Blue Heron in morph mode, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, June 2024.This looks like a juvenile Little Blue Heron whose feathers are starting to change. Seen along Black Point Wildlife Drive on Merritt Island.A juvenile Little Blue Heron in his morph stage prowls around a pond at Orlando Wetlands Park in April 2023.Little Blue Heron, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, October 2023.
