page_title: Little blue heron
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Little blue heron / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) juvenile, Tobago
context_page_description: The little blue heron is a small heron belonging to the family Ardeidae.
context_section_description: This species is about 64–76 cm (25–30 in) long, with a 102 cm (40 in) wingspan, and weighs 325 g (11.5 oz).
  It is a medium-large, long-legged heron with a long pointed pale blue or greyish bill with a darker or black tip. The body is more elongated than in Snowy Egret.
  Breeding adult birds have blue-grey plumage except for the head and neck, which are purplish and have long blue filamentous plumes. The legs and feet are dark blue/green or greenish. The sexes are similar. Non-breeding adults have dark blue head and neck plumage and paler legs. Young birds are all white in their first year, except for dark wing tips and have dull greenish legs. In their first spring or first summer they gradually acquire the adults' dark plumage.
  This species is rather similar to the much larger and bigger-billed Reddish Egret. Immature Little Blues are similar to immature Snowy Egrets.
caption: Juvenile, Tobago
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