Little blue heron

Little blue heron

Egretta caerulea

ITIS Species Code: 174827 NatureServ Element Code: ABNGA06040

Taxa:

Order:

Family:

Aves

Ciconiiformes

Ardeidae

NatureServe Global Rank:

NatureServe State (NC) Rank:

S3B,S3N

Federal Status:

NC State Status:

---

PARTNERS IN FLIGHT PRIORITY SCORES:

Southern Blue Ridge:

n/a

Southern Piedmont:

n/a

South Atl. Coastal Plain:

HEXAGONAL KNOWN RANGE:

PREDICTED DISTRIBUTION:

SUMMARY OF STATEWIDE PREDICTED DISTRIBUTION:

Land Unit

US Fish & Wildlife Service

US Forest Service

US National Park Service

US Department of Defense

NC State Parks

NC University System

NC Wildlife Res. Com.

NC Forest Service

NC Div. of Coastal Mgmt.

Local Governments

Non-Governmental Org.

Other Public Lands

Private Lands

GAP Status 1-2

All Protected Lands

Statewide

Hectares

30,901.95

2,947.05

17,864.91

6,039.72

2,726.10

704.43

13,832.10

1,752.93

2,606.76

17.19

3,775.32

74.34

328,259.88

56,219.31

82,681.74

411,502.68

Acres

76,360.37

7,282.32

44,145.15

14,924.47

6,736.34

1,740.68

34,179.86

4,331.58

6,441.44

42.48

9,329.02

183.70

811,147.67

138,920.91

204,310.99

1,016,845.07

% of Dist. on

Prot. Lands

37.4 %

3.6 %

20.9 %

7.3 %

3.3 %

0.9 %

16.7 %

2.1 %

3.2 %

4.6 %

< 0.1 %

0.0 %

68.0 %

-----

% of Dist. on

All Lands

7.5 %

0.7 %

4.3 %

1.5 %

0.7 %

0.2 %

3.4 %

0.4 %

0.6 %

< 0.1 %

0.9 %

< 0.1 %

79.8 %

13.7 %

-----

HABITAT DESCRIPTION:

Common along the coast and on the barrier islands (Fussell 1994).
Found primarily inland, near fresh, brackish or saltwater ponds, lakes, marshes, meadows, or along the banks of streams or rivers (Palmer 1962); will also forage in dry meadows (Kaufman 1996). Nests in colonies, sometimes in association with other wading birds, especially Tricolored Heron. Nests along the edges of mixed-species colonies (Palmer 1962).
Nest is built near or above water, up to 40 feet above the ground in a tree or shrub. Forages by wading in shallow water (Ehrlich et al. 1988).
NATURE SERVE GLOBAL HABITAT COMMENTS:
Marshes, ponds, lakes, meadows, mudflats, lagoons, streams, mangrove lagoons, and other bodies of calm shallow water; primarily in freshwater habitats.
Nests in trees and shrubs to about 4 m above ground or water, primarily in freshwater situations; usually in mangroves in the tropics. Often nests with other herons, egrets, and/or ibises.
NATURE SERVE STATE HABITAT COMMENTS:

In or very near coastal estuaries, although in the past, they have nested in coastal swamp forests. Colony sites are most commonly in dense low thickets on small islands in the coastal sounds or river mouths. Some colonies are located on barrier islands.

MODELING DESCRIPTION:

Occupied Landcover Map Units:

Code	Name	Description	NC Natural Heritage Program Equivalent
3	Tidal Marsh	Fresh and brackish tidal marshes, including cord grass, wild rice, sawgrass and needlerush alliances.	Brackish Marsh, Interdune pond, Maritime wet grassland
124	Maritime Scrubs and Tidal Shrublands	Coastal shrubs including wax-myrtle, swamp rose, alder, yaupon, and greenbriar.	Maritime Shrubs, Salt Shrub
375	Hypersaline coastal salt flats	Tidal flats within salt marshes, including saltmeadow cordgrass or sea-purslane dominated alliances.	Salt Marsh
372	Interdune Herbaceous Wetlands	Dune swales with permanently flooded to intermittently exposed hydrology. Species composition depends on salinity and can include cut grass, spike-rush, mosquito fern, and hornwort.	Interdune Pond, Maritime Wet Grasslands
75	Tidal Swamp Forest	Swamp tupelo dominated forest with or without black tupelo and/or cypress trees. Restricted to the tidal zones in the coastal plain. May have inclusions of coastal red cedar woodlands.	Tidal cypress - gum swamp
121	Maritime Pinelands	Loblolly forests and woodlands of the outer coastal plain.	Estuarine Fringe Loblolly Pine Forest
17	Maritime Forests and Hammocks	Maritime forests and woodlands dominated by live or sand laurel oak. Estuarine Fringe forests dominated by loblolly pine.	Coastal Fringe Evergreen Forest, Maritime Deciduous Forest, Maritime Deciduous Forest
126	Interdune Wooded Depression Swamp	Includes swamps dominated by sweetbay and swampbay or dogwood dominated forests.	Maritime Shrub Swamp, Maritime Swamp Forest
380	Coastal Plain Fresh Water Emergent	Emergent vegetation in fresh water seepage bogs, ponds and riverbeds of the coastal plain. Includes alliances dominated by sedges, eelgrass, as well as cane found in unforested cane-brakes.	Small Depression Pond, Sandhill Seep, Floodplain Pool, Unforested Floodplain Canebrake, Riverscour Prairies, Vernal Pools
173	Coastal Plain Riverbank Shrubs	Shrub dominated riverbanks, commonly dominated by willows and/or alders.	Sand and Mud Bar
50	Coastal Plain Mixed Bottomland Forests	Includes forests dominated by a variety of hardwood species, including sweetgum, cottonwood, red maple.	Coastal Plain Bottomland Hardwood (in part), Coastal Plain Levee Forest
49	Coastal Plain Oak Bottomland Forest	Bottomland forests dominated by deciduous oak alliances. Oaks represented can include swamp chestnut, cherrybark, willow, and/or overcup oak. Inclusions of loblolly pine temporarily flooded forests occur in patches. Hydrology is temporarily to seasonally flooded.	Coastal Plain Bottomland Hardwoods (in part) blackwater subtype, brownwater subtype
30	Cypress-Gum Floodplain Forests	Swamps dominated by black or swamp tupelo with or without Taxodium. Seasonally to semi-permanently flooded hydrology.	Cypress-Gum Swamps
78	Pond-Cypress - Gum Swamps, Savannas and Lakeshores	Cypress dominated swamps and lakeshores. Can include bays dominated by pond cypress or shorelines of coastal plain lakes with a narrow band of cypress.	Non-riverine Swamp Forest, Natural Lakeshores (in part)
385	Oak Bottomland Forest and Swamp Forest	The swamp chestnut oak, cherrybark oak, shumard oak and sweetgum alliance is one representative. Other alliances are dominated by water, willow, and overcup oaks. Swamp forests can be dominated by sweetgum, red maple, and black gum being dominant. Loblolly can occur in combination with sweetgum and red maple, or with tulip poplar. Includes saturated and semi- to permanently flooded forests in the mountains.	Piedmont/Mountain Bottomland Forest, Piedmont/Mountain Swamp Forest
238	Piedmont/Mountain Submerged Aquatic Vegetation	Seasonally to permanently flooded areas with aquatic vegetation. Waterlily, pondweed, hydrilla smartweed are a few of the species that can occur.	Piedmont/Mountain Semipermanent Impoundment (in part)
239	Piedmont/Mountain Emergent Vegetation	Emergent vegetation of all wetland hydrologies. Sites would commonly support species such as tussock sedge, rushs, and cattail alliances.	Rocky Bar and Shore (in part)
267	Riverbank Shrublands	Riverside shrubs with temporarily flooded hydrologies. Found in the both the Mountains and Piedmont. Containing dominants such as smooth alder and a Carolina or black willows.	Sand and Mud Bar
269	Floodplain Wet Shrublands	Saturated shrublands of the Piedmont, includes buttonbush, swamp-loosestrife, decodon and alders.	Piedmont/mountain Semipermanent Impoundment
205	Agricultural Pasture/Hay and Natural Herbaceous	Farm fields used for pasture grass or hay production, as well as old fields dominated by native and exotic grasses.	No equivalent
202	Residential Urban	Includes vegetation interspersed in residential areas. Includes lawns, mixed species woodlots, and horticultural shrubs. Vegetation accounts for between 20 - 70% of the cover.	No equivalent
8	Open water	Open water without aquatic vegetation.	No equivalent

View Entire Landcover Legend

Additional Spatial Constraints:

Exclude all area outside of known range.

Exclude all land greater than 50 meters from an open water feature.

Exclude all land greater than 50 meters from wet vegetation.

Exclude all water greater than 50 meters from land.

Exclude salt water habitats.

CITATIONS:

Bent, A. C. 1926. Life histories of North American marsh birds. U.S. National Museum Bulletin No. 135. [reprint. 1963. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, New York].

Fussell, J.O. III. 1994. A birder’s guide to coastal North Carolina. Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press.

Palmer, R. S. (editor). 1962. Handbook of North American birds. Vol. 1. Loons through flamingos. Yale University Press, New Haven. 567 pp.

Payne, R. B., and C. J. Risley. 1976. Systematics and evolutionary relationships among the herons (Ardeidae). Univ. Michigan Mus. Zool., Misc. Publ. No. 150. 115 pp.

Harrison, C. 1978. A field guide to the nests, eggs and nestlings of North American birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.

Harrison, H.H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.

Terres, J.K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU), Committee on Classification and Nomenclature. 1983. Check-list of North American Birds. Sixth Edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas.

Raffaele, H.A. 1983. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Fondo Educativo Interamericano, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 255 pp.

Hilty, S.L., and W.L. Brown. 1986. A guide to the birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 836 pp.

Pratt, H.D., P.L. Bruner, and D.G. Berrett. 1987. A field guide to the birds of Hawaii and the tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 409 pp. + 45 plates.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birder's handbook:a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Shuster, Inc., New York. xxx + 785 pp.

Root, T. 1988. Atlas of wintering North American birds:An analysis of Christmas Bird Count data. University of Chicago Press. 336 pp.

Spendelow, J.A., and S.R. Patton. 1988. National atlas of coastal waterbird colonies in the contiguous United States:1976-1982. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 88(5). x + 326 pp.

Byrd, M.A., and D.W. Johnston. 1991. Birds. Pages 477-537 in K. Terwilliger, coordinator. Virginia's endangered species:proceedings of a symposium. McDonald and Woodward Publ. Co., Blacksburg, Virginia.

Powell, G. V. N. 1987. Habitat use by wading birds in a subtropical estuary:implications of hydrography. Auk 104:740-749.

Stiles, F.G., and A.F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comstock Publ. Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. 511 pp.

10 March 2005

This data was compiled and/or developed by the North Carolina GAP Analysis Project.

For more information please contact them at:
NC-GAP Analysis Project
Dept. of Zoology, NCSU
Campus Box 7617
Raleigh, NC 27695-7617
(919) 513-2853
www.basic.ncsu.edu/ncgap