Quick identification
Tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor)
A slim blue-gray heron with a white belly and a long, fine bill. The white stripe down the front of the neck can be conspicuous.
Season and local range: Regular coastal resident.
Habitat and island setting
Shallow Laguna Madre water, marsh channels and pond margins.
Where to look
The Nature Center boardwalk and Laguna Madre Nature Trail frequently put suitable habitat within comfortable viewing range. Birds may move as tides, wind, fronts, water levels and activity at the site change.
What the bird is doing
This heron moves more actively than a great blue heron, often making quick turns after small fish. Let it control the distance and never crowd a feeding edge.
Watching birds
Use binoculars or a camera zoom, stay on public paths and leave feeding, resting and nesting birds enough room to continue normal behavior. If a bird stops feeding, stands alert, calls repeatedly or moves away because of you, increase the distance. Check access information in the South Padre Island birding guide before making a special trip.