{"id":8441,"date":"2013-05-26T03:40:03","date_gmt":"2013-05-26T09:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8441"},"modified":"2025-08-21T16:32:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T21:32:43","slug":"tricolored-herons-times-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/05\/26\/tricolored-herons-times-three\/","title":{"rendered":"Tricolored Herons Times Three"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-139394 size-full\" title=\"Tricolored Heron on the shore of Lake Maggiore\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-boyd-hill-mia-mcpherson-3359.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-boyd-hill-mia-mcpherson-3359.jpg\" alt=\"Resting Tricolored Heron on the shore of Lake Maggiore, Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"561\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27561%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20561%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27561%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-boyd-hill-mia-mcpherson-3359-175x250.jpg 175w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-boyd-hill-mia-mcpherson-3359-200x285.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-boyd-hill-mia-mcpherson-3359-210x300.jpg 210w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-boyd-hill-mia-mcpherson-3359-400x570.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-boyd-hill-mia-mcpherson-3359.jpg 561w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 561px) 100vw, 561px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Tricolored Heron on the shore of Lake Maggiore<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve mentioned before that light can impact the final results of an image and the background can as well. Some people might think the background in the image above is messy but I\u00a0think that the palm fronds that\u00a0are reaching towards the water a compliment to the curving lines of the Tricolored Heron and there are similar colors on the palm fronds and the back of the heron. The gnarly tree stump also seems to echo the feet of this Tricolored.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-153185 size-full\" title=\"Tricolored Heron in golden light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-7043.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-7043.jpg\" alt=\"Tricolored Heron in golden light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"572\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27572%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20572%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27572%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-7043-200x280.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-7043-400x559.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-7043.jpg 572w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 572px) 100vw, 572px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Tricolored Heron in golden light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This image has less &#8220;mess in the background but there is enough variation in the colors to be interesting and the bubbles on the surface of the water add a bit of tension.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-153188 size-full\" title=\"Tricolored Heron in pastel water and soft light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-still-water-mia-mcpherson-9796.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-still-water-mia-mcpherson-9796.jpg\" alt=\"Tricolored Heron in pastel water and soft light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"640\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20640%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-still-water-mia-mcpherson-9796-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-still-water-mia-mcpherson-9796-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-still-water-mia-mcpherson-9796-600x750.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-still-water-mia-mcpherson-9796.jpg 640w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Tricolored Heron in pastel water and soft light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The smooth pastel water in this image\u00a0has a nice texture and color which contrasts with the\u00a0herons plumage. The background is simple and doesn&#8217;t detract from the heron at all.<\/p>\n<p>I actually like the backgrounds in\u00a0each of these images, all of them show the habitat that Tricolored Herons might be found in and highlight the birds too.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/tricolored-heron-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Tricolored Heron photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I actually like the backgrounds in each of these images, all of them show the habitat that Tricolored Herons might be found in and highlight the birds too. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2227,25,704,254],"tags":[4004,5132,4116,4254,627,626,3997,5178,8372,12762,3980,13540,3989,313,4236,3996],"class_list":["post-8441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-boyd-hill-nature-preserve","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-tricolored-herons","tag-adult","tag-coastal","tag-egretta-tricolor","tag-golden-light","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-lagoon","tag-lake","tag-lake-maggiore","tag-pastel","tag-pinellas-county","tag-soft-light","tag-tricolored-heron","tag-wading-birds","tag-walking","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-still-water-mia-mcpherson-9796.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2c9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62931,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/19\/tricolored-herons-in-florida-habitats\/","url_meta":{"origin":8441,"position":0},"title":"Tricolored Herons In Florida Habitats","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When I lived in Florida Tricolored Herons were among my favorite wading birds to photograph and I found them in many different types of habitats.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tricolored Heron at Roosevelt Wetland, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7421,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/05\/breeding-plumage-tricolored-heron-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":8441,"position":1},"title":"Breeding plumage Tricolored Heron in flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've always liked this image of a Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage that flew past me while I sat in the water of a tidal lagoon near a Spartina marsh in Florida. Warm water, a sea breeze, birds, nature and photography.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Breeding plumage Tricolored Heron in flight, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/tricolored-heron-breeding-flight-mia-mcpherson5517.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/tricolored-heron-breeding-flight-mia-mcpherson5517.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/tricolored-heron-breeding-flight-mia-mcpherson5517.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/tricolored-heron-breeding-flight-mia-mcpherson5517.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1088,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/10\/14\/tricolored-herons\/","url_meta":{"origin":8441,"position":2},"title":"Tricolored Herons","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Another one of my favorite wading birds is the Tricolored Heron, a bird that used to be called the Louisiana Heron. It can be found in estuaries along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, in inland freshwater marshes in Florida.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tricolored Heron side view, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-mia-mcpherson-8889.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-mia-mcpherson-8889.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-mia-mcpherson-8889.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-mia-mcpherson-8889.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16024,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/02\/tricolored-heron-hunting-the-gulf-of-mexicos-shoreline\/","url_meta":{"origin":8441,"position":3},"title":"Tricolored Heron Hunting The Gulf Of Mexico&#8217;s Shoreline","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Tricolored Herons are smaller than Great Blue Herons and larger than Snowy Egrets and all three of these wading birds hunt in many of the same locations along the Gulf Coast.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tricolored Heron hunting the Gulf of Mexico\u2019s shoreline, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/tricolored-heron-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/tricolored-heron-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/tricolored-heron-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2893.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/tricolored-heron-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2893.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14914,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/05\/08\/crouching-tricolored-herons\/","url_meta":{"origin":8441,"position":4},"title":"Crouching Tricolored Herons","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Tricolored Herons use many foraging behaviors to obtain their prey including walking quickly then crouching before stabbing their prey.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Crouching Tricolored Heron, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-crouching-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-crouching-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-crouching-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-crouching-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6548,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/10\/tricolored-heron-in-breeding-plumage-with-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":8441,"position":5},"title":"Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage with prey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While in breeding plumage Tricolored Herons have redder legs, darker red eyes, blue lores and blue on the bill plus a longer, white occipital plume than they do during the nonbreeding season.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage with prey, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tricolored-heron-breeding-plumage-prey-mia-mcpherson-2149.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tricolored-heron-breeding-plumage-prey-mia-mcpherson-2149.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tricolored-heron-breeding-plumage-prey-mia-mcpherson-2149.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tricolored-heron-breeding-plumage-prey-mia-mcpherson-2149.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}