The Story
On June 23, 2017, I photographed this juvenile Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) at the Malecón Cameguadua in Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia. Its range covers much of the Americas, from the United States to northern South America, in both fresh and salt water. Adults hunt fish, crabs and other small animals, and they nest in colonies with other bird species. Chinchiná lies 17 kilometers southwest of Manizales, at 1,360 meters, in a valley surrounded by coffee plantations.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Little Blue Heron as Least Concern with a decreasing population, and Chinchiná is part of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) belongs to the family Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List