LC
Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: #http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of _the_WP15.xls#.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: #http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm#.

IUCN Red list criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status full migrant Forest dependency low
Land mass type Average mass -
Distribution

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2) 33,400,000 medium
Extent of Occurrence non-breeding (km2) 30,500,000 medium
Number of locations -
Severely Fragmented -
Population and trend
Value Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
No. of mature individuals poor estimated 2009
Population trend decreasing suspected -
Decline (3 years/1 generation past) - - -
Decline (5 years/1 generation past) - - -
Decline (10 years/1 generation past) - - -
Decline (10 years/3 generation future) - - -
Decline (10 years/3 generation past and future) - - -
Number of subpopulations - - -
Percentage in largest subpopulation - - -
Generation length (yrs) 6.6 - - -

Trend justification: The overall population trend is decreasing, although some populations have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006). This species has undergone a small or statistically insignificant decrease over the last 40 years in North America (data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007) Note, however, that these surveys cover less than 50% of the species's range in North America.


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding Non-breeding Passage
Anguilla (to UK) extant native
Antigua and Barbuda extant native
Argentina extant native
Aruba (to Netherlands) extant native
Bahamas extant native
Barbados extant native
Belize extant native yes
Bermuda (to UK) extant native yes
Bolivia extant native
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (to Netherlands) extant native
Brazil extant native
Canada extant native
Cayman Islands (to UK) extant native
Chile extant native
Colombia extant native
Costa Rica extant native yes
Cuba extant native
Dominica extant native
Dominican Republic extant native
Ecuador extant native
El Salvador extant native
French Guiana extant native
Greenland (to Denmark) extant vagrant
Grenada extant native
Guadeloupe (to France) extant native
Guatemala extant native
Guyana extant native
Haiti extant native
Honduras extant native
Jamaica extant native yes
Martinique (to France) extant native
Mexico extant native
Montserrat (to UK) extant native
Nicaragua extant native
Panama extant native
Paraguay extant native
Peru extant native
Portugal extant vagrant
Puerto Rico (to USA) extant native yes
Sint Maarten (to Netherlands) extant native
South Africa extant vagrant
St Barthelemy (to France) extant native
St Kitts and Nevis extant native
St Lucia extant native
St Martin (to France) extant native
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France) extant vagrant yes
St Vincent and the Grenadines extant native
Suriname extant native
Trinidad and Tobago extant native
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK) extant native
Uruguay extant vagrant
USA extant native yes
Venezuela extant native
Virgin Islands (to UK) extant native yes
Virgin Islands (to USA) extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name
Costa Rica Nicoya Gulf mangroves and coastal areas
Mexico Humedales Costeros del Norte de la Península de Yucatán
Mexico Sur de Quintana Roo
Nicaragua Bluefields Bay and adjacent landscape
Nicaragua Juan Venado Island
Trinidad and Tobago Caroni Swamp
USA Barataria Terrebonne

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level suitable breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level suitable non-breeding
Marine Intertidal Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses) suitable breeding
Marine Intertidal Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses) suitable non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands major breeding
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands major non-breeding
Altitude 0 - 3750 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Utilisation
Purpose Primary form used Life stage used Source Scale Level Timing
Pets/display animals, horticulture - - international non-trivial recent

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Egretta caerulea. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/little-blue-heron-egretta-caerulea on 31/05/2023. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org on 31/05/2023.