ML71173511

Age and sex

Juvenile, Unknown sex - X

Media notes

Juvenile Tricolored Heron initially found on 25 September 2017 by Chezy Yusuf and here photographed by Curtis A. Marantz on 5 October 2017 at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, Orange County, California.

Observation details

This was a small heron that was approximately comparable to a Snowy Egret (E. thula) it is overall size and shape even though it may have been even a little bit slimmer especially in the head, neck, and bill. Somewhat surprisingly, this bird's body did not appear all that much larger than that of a Willet (Tringa semipalmata) that was foraging nearby. The bill was conspicuously long and slim, in that it was about twice as long as the head was wide and it tapered from a relatively shallow base to a finely pointed tip along a culmen that was only very slightly decurved. The forehead was inconspicuous and the crown had a flattened appearance on a head that was relatively small and slim. This bird's neck was conspicuously long, slim, and with the “S-shaped” curve that is typical of a heron. The body was relatively plump and full-chested with a posture that was not quite as upright as diagonal. The wings were relatively short and rounded, with almost no primary projection evident whatsoever, and wingtips that appeared to reach right about to the tip of a conspicuously short tail. The legs were long and relatively slim. This was a boldly marked heron yet it lacked much intense color in the plumage. The forehead and crown were a deep, bluish-gray in color back to about the nape, where it merged with the brick-red color that extended down the back and sides of the neck. The auriculars were also indistinctly washed with about the same bluish color before blending into the rufous behind. I thought the darker coloration of the face extended down right to the gape and the lower edge of the moustachial and auricular regions, below which the lower part of the face and throat were white and unmarked. Although the throat was unmarked, the foreneck had narrow stripes of brick-red that extended from just below the throat down to the breast. These stripes were demarcated by a narrow margin of white that extended down the demarcation of the front and sides of the neck, apparently all the way from the throat down to the breast. I never specifically noted in the field a striped down the center of the neck, but I suspect my photos may show the presence of this stripe. The sides and back of the neck were generally brick-red in color, but I did notice at least some bluish coloration right along the leading edge where it met the white stripe on the foreneck. My impression was that the breast was mostly, if not entirely, brick-red in color. The darker color of the breast was sharply demarcated from the unmarked, snow-white coloration that extended through the belly, flanks, and apparently the undertail coverts. One thing that I did notice during this bird's brief flights was that the underwing coverts were extensively white much like the adjacent flanks. Returning to the upperparts, the back and scapulars were uniformly bluish-gray in color. The visible lesser and median coverts had bluish-gray bases that were similar in color to the back that contrasted brick-red tips that when combined with the rounded tips of the feathers resulted in several rows of semicircular markings across the upper and middle part of each wing. The greater coverts, however, appeared to be more uniformly bluish-gray, albeit with some of the longer, inner feathers having a narrow fringe of brick-red at the tip. The tertials and whatever other remiges I could see in the wing appeared to be uniformly bluish-gray in color. The upper mandible was mostly black apart from a narrow strip of deep yellow along the cutting edge for about the basal two-thirds that merged with black distally. The lower mandible, by contrast, appeared to be entirely the same shade of deep yellow, which also extended through the loral region and as a narrow orbital-ring. The eyes were quite pale and the legs were a relatively bright, yellowish-green in color.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

320

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/1600 sec

Dimensions

4076 pixels x 2674 pixels

Original file size

9.44 MB