It feeds on small crustaceans, invertebrates and large insects. In Maryland they are the only medium size heron that is all dark blue/purple. View top-quality stock photos of Little Blue Heron Launching In Flight. The little blue sometimes turns up in flooded fields, seeking grasshoppers and other prey. Adults are slate blue in color. Each little blue heron art print is produced using archival inks, ships within 48 hours, and comes with a 30-day money back guarantee! Adult Little Blue Herons are distinctive. Email This BlogThis! The white, immature little blue heron is separated from other egrets by its gray lores (even snowy immatures have yellow lores), blackish-tipped but otherwise pale gray bill, and dark-tipped wings in flight. The little blue heron is a small to medium-sized heron; about 60 cm in length with a wingspan of about 100 cm. Great Blue Heron - Height 46 inches. Little Blue Heron: This medium-sized, slender heron has a slate-gray body and a purple-blue head and neck. The eyes are yellow and the bill is dark gray with a black tip. Immature Little blues have all white plumage, as the birds mature they have a mottled or pied appearance, showing both blue and white coloration. The sexes are similar. I accept that not every day in the field is going to be, pardon the pun, picture perfect but almost every trip taken to look for birds to photograph is better than staying home. Shop for little blue heron art prints from our community of independent artists and iconic brands. Shop for great blue heron in flight art from the world's greatest living artists. Nests in colonies, sometimes of this species alone; in large mixed heronries… Legs are dark green and bill is pale with a black tip. Find premium, high-resolution stock photography at Getty Images. Customize your little blue heron print … Find it. Despite its different last name, the Little Blue Heron is probably a close relative of the Snowy Egret. Minnesota Breeding Bird Distribution* The Little Blue Heron was not known in Minnesota in 1932 at the time when Roberts was writing The Birds of Minnesota, and it is not mentioned in that opus at all.The first observations were by William Longley in what is now called the Whitewater Wildlife Management Area in Winona County, on May 21, 1953, and August 17, 1956 (Lupient 1953; Longley 1956). Great blue herons' size (3.2 to 4.5 feet) and wide wingspan (5.5 to 6.6 feet) make them a joy to see in flight. The legs and feet are dark. FLIGHT: Little blue heron has a graceful but strong flight. Great Blue Herons have a small reddish shoulder patch. It flies with its head down, and legs extended to the rear. Dense fog and a Great Blue Heron in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 800, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light. Unfortunately, there is a lack of data about the status of the Little Blue Heron in Texas before the 1970s; so, the possible relationship between its breeding populations and the precipitation cycle is unknown for earlier years. A Little Blue Heron flying as they normally do, with the neck bent and the head by the body.