This picture above of a blue heron at its nest, was made in
Suriname by Foek Chin Joe in 2005. The ones directly below this
text were made by Pascal Dubois in French Guyane (2002), by Carla
Out in 2006 and by Cheryll Tjon in December 2009.
The little blue heron (egret) breeds in colonies along the
Surinamese coast. The nests are in trees. It is one of the most
common herons in Suriname and it can be found along the muddy
coast, in lagoons, along rivers, in ricefields and more wet
places. It feeds on fish and shrimps and other small animals in
the water. The young are totally white and difficult to separate
from some other herons, for instance the snowy egrets. Other
herons can be found in the photo
gallery.
Below first a picture of a young white bird made by Alexandre Renaudier in French Guiana in the rice fields near Mana in September 2005 and a flying young bird seen by Pieter Verheij in Suriname in the beginning of 2007. The next four pictures below were made by Arie Spaans in Suriname. The first one at Weg naar Zee near Paramaribo, The following ones at the nesting colony at Kentbank (near Boskamp) in the seventies: an adult and a young on a nest. The young of this heron are white. The last picture shows a bird changing its white color (as a young) to the adult color, blue. Made by Jan Hein Ribot at the pier of the Torarica hotel, Paramaribo, Suriname in 2006.
Each small square indicates the observation of at least one (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least 4 observations on different days and the largest ones 10 or more. The color of each square indicates: blue for coastal area, yellow for savanna and red for rainforest.
| Distribution in Suriname (explanation) | |
| Coastal area |  |
| Savanna |  |
| Forests | |
| Mountain forests |  |
| Sipalawini savanna | |
Names in:
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