Tricolored Heron

Frederick (2013) writes that the Tricolored Heron suffered from the millinery slaughter of North American herons and egrets in the 1880s, but was a collateral victim as mixed colonies were destroyed. Populations have rebounded along with egrets and herons. Now populations are again declining as a result of coastal habitat destruction. Erika and I found this Tricolored Heron underneath the headquarters of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.