Tricolored Heron

Table

Tricolored Heron – Accepted
1. 04–09 Aug 1990	ASY	Tijuana R. mouth SD	1990-137	16
and 28 Dec 1990–18 Apr 1991			1991-024	16	ph.
2. 07 Dec 1990–18 Apr 1991	HY	Tijuana R. mouth SD	1990-211	16
3. 27 Jul–24 Aug 1991	ASY	Whitewater R., Salton Sea RIV	1991-110	16
4. 04–11 Jul 1992	ASY	Obsidian Butte, Salton Sea IMP	1992-178	18	ph.
5. 24 Oct 1992–28 Feb 1993	HY	Tijuana R. mouth SD	1993-016	18
6. 07–19 Nov 1992	HY	Santa Rosa SON	1992-284	18	video
7. 22 Jan–05 Feb 1993	ASY	Tijuana R. mouth SD	1993-074	19
8. 15 Aug 1993	HY	vic. New R., Salton Sea IMP	1993-127	19
9. 01 Oct 1993		Whitewater R., Salton Sea RIV	1994-021	19
10. 18 Dec 1993–19 Feb 1994	HY	Imperial Beach SD	1994-049	19	ph.
and 23 May 1994		Tijuana R. mouth SD	1994-112	19	ph.
11. 02 Jan–12 Feb 1994	SY	vic. Oasis, Salton Sea RIV	1994-001	20
12-14. 16 Jul–14 Aug 1994	3 ASY	Obsidian Butte, Salton Sea IMP	1994-107	20
15-17. 06–14 Aug 1994	1-2 ASY, 2 HY	Ramer Lake IMP	1994-126	20
18. 13 May–16 Aug 1995		vic. Niland IMP	1995-074	21
19. 03 Nov 1995	HY	Tijuana R. mouth SD	1996-044	22
20. 02 Mar–01 Apr 1996		vic. Red Hill, Salton Sea IMP	1996-032	22
21. 28 Aug–08 Sep 1996	H-SY	Santa Ana R. mouth ORA	1997-172	22	video
22. 13 Sep–02 Oct 1996	HY	Oxnard/Port Hueneme VEN	1996-123	22	ph.
23. 17 Sep–01 Oct 1996	AHY	Bodega Harbor SON	1996-128	22	ph.
and 06–07 Oct 1996		Limantour Estero MRN			AFN 51:114
24. 03–06 May 1997	ASY	Whitewater R., Salton Sea RIV	1997-082	23
25. 03 May 1997	ASY	Obsidian Butte, Salton Sea IMP	1997-083	23
26. 20 Sep 1997–26 Apr 1998	HY	Bolsa Chica ORA	1998-004	23	ph.
and 27 Sep 1997		Seal Beach ORA	1997-167	23	ph.
and 13 Oct 1998–07 May 1999		Bolsa Chica ORA	1998-200	24	ph., see records not submitted
27. 03 Nov 1997–17 Jan 1998	HY	Tijuana R. mouth SD	1997-184	23	ph.
and 25 Jul 1998–20 Apr 1999			1998-112	24
and 23 Oct 1999–27 Feb 2000			2000-002	25
and 24 Aug 2000–10 Jan 2001			2000-141	26
28. 31 Jan–07 Mar 1998	ASY	vic. Mecca, Salton Sea RIV	1998-048	24	ph.
and 14–27 Feb 1999			1999-077	25
and 30 Dec 1999–09 Jan 2000			2000-055	25
29. 15 Jan 1999	ASY	s San Diego Bay SD	2003-080	29	ph.
30. 24 May–02 Jun 1999	ASY	Pt. Sur MTY	1999-099	25	ph.
31. 06 Jun–03 Jul 1999	ASY	Famosa Slough SD	1999-168	25	ph.
32. 14 Oct 1999	HY	Chula Vista SD	2001-161	26
33. 22 Jul 2001	H-SY	Salton Sea NWR IMP	2001-119	28	ph.
34. 16–29 Sep 2001	AHY	Irvine ORA	2002-047	27	ph.
35. 30 Sep–03 Dec 2001	HY	s end Salton Sea IMP	2001-159	27	ph.
36. 29 Dec 2001	HY	Tijuana R. mouth SD	2001-225	27
37. 12–21 May 2002	ASY	Goleta SBA	2002-110	28	ph.
38. 25 Jun–10 Aug 2002	ASY	Pt. Mugu VEN	2002-146	28	Fig. 86, ph.
39. 09–11 Aug 2002	SY	Los Osos SLO	2002-214	28
40. 25 Mar 2003	ASY	West Pond IMP	2003-037	29
41. 09 Jul 2003	HY	Red Hill, Salton Sea IMP	2003-084	29
42. 09 Jul–17 Aug 2003	AHY	Red Hill, Salton Sea IMP	2003-084	29
43. 21 Dec 2003–19 Mar 2004		Upper Newport Bay/Seal Beach ORA	2003-200	30	ph.
Tricolored Heron – Not accepted, identification not established
11 Aug 1990		vic. Red Hill, Salton Sea IMP	1991-029	16	ph.
26 May 1991		Finney Lake IMP	1991-098	17
16 Jun 2000		Whitewater R., Salton Sea RIV	2000-097	26
20 Dec 2003		Oceanside SD	2004-156	30
Tricolored Heron – Not submitted
26 Jan–20 Apr 1991		San Diego R. mouth SD			AB 45:319, 495
19 Jun 1994		s end Salton Sea IMP			FN 48:988
19–27 Jun 1994		Upper Newport Bay ORA			Hamilton & Willick (1996)
and 02–03 Jul 1994		Bolsa Chica ORA
28 Nov–03 Dec 1994		Seal Beach ORA			FN 49:100, 195
06–17 Dec 1994		Chula Vista SD			FN 49:195
03–09 Jun 1995		s San Diego Bay SD			FN 49:979
11 Aug 1996		Newport Beach ORA			FN 51:120
29 Dec 1998		Mission Bay SD			Unitt (2004)
26 Jun–22 Oct 1999		Bolsa Chica ORA			NAB 53:432, 54:104, see table entry 26
06 Nov–09 Dec 1999		San Diego R. mouth SD			Unitt (2004)
05 Dec 1999		Tijuana R. mouth SD			Unitt (2004)
28 Oct–09 Dec 2001		Bolsa Chica ORA			NAB 56:106, 222
02–28 May 2002		Tijuana R. mouth SD			NAB 56:356

Figures

Figure 86. The Tricolored Heron, a subtropical species in the West, regularly wanders north into California from its usual range in Baja California and Sonora. This adult was photographed on 10 August 2002 at Pt. Mugu, Ventura County (2002-146; Larry Sansone).

Figure 87. Distribution of 43 Tricolored Herons accepted from 1990 through 2003. The pattern depicted—with concentrations at the Salton Sea and along the extreme southern coast, plus scattered records northward along the coast—is fairly typical of rare southern herons. Prior to the start of the CBRC’s review period in 1990, this species was recorded elsewhere along the coast.

Tricolored Heron

TRICOLORED HERON Egretta tricolor (Müller, 1776)

Accepted: 43 (91%)	Treated in Appendix H: no
Not accepted: 4	CBRC review: records from 1990 through present
Not submitted/reviewed: 13	Color image: none

This heron occupies wetlands, especially coastal ones, from northern South America northward. On the Pacific slope, it breeds as far north as the central Baja California Peninsula and Sonora, and on the Atlantic slope it breeds north to southern Maine. In 2002, two pairs nested in the Mexicali Valley of northeastern Baja California (Mellink et al. 2002). The northernmost breeders move south during winter, and birds presumably from the Baja California Peninsula population regularly winter as far north as Bahía Todos Santos near Ensenada. Vagrants are encountered somewhat regularly east of the Rocky Mts. north to southern Canada, and have reached Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, southern Alberta, the Islas Revillagigedo, the Lesser Antilles, and the Azores.

California’s first Tricolored Heron, a first-winter female, was collected on 17 January 1914 at the south end of San Diego Bay, San Diego County (Huey 1915, SDNHM 30889). This specimen, like the others taken in the state, refers to E. t. ruficollis, which includes E. t. occidentalis (Unitt 2004). Nearly half of the state’s accepted records are from the southern coast, where first-fall and first-winter birds predominate; most of the remaining records involve adults in spring and summer at the Salton Sea (Figure 87). The presence of one or two adults with two fresh juveniles from 6 to 14 August 1994 at Ramer Lake in Imperial County strongly suggested nesting at the large heronry at this location (Howell and Pyle 1997, Patten et al. 2003).

Five Tricolored Herons have been found in northern and central California, four of them during the CBRC review period: Honey Lake, Lassen County, 24 August–26 September 1971 (Manolis 1972); Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, 7–19 November 1992; Bodega Harbor and Limantour Estero, Sonoma and Marin Counties, 17 September–7 October 1996; Pt. Sur, Monterey County, 24 May–2 June 1999; and Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County, 9–11 August 2002.

A Tricolored Heron recorded on 20 May 1981 at San Clemente Island in Los Angeles County (AB 35:863) remains the only one ever found on a California island.