The tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor) has slate-grey upperparts, bright white underparts, and reddish stripes on the neck. Formerly known in North America as the Louisiana heron, it is the only dark colored heron with a white belly. It is a resident breeder from the Gulf states of the USA and northern Mexico south through Central America and the Caribbean to central Brazil and Peru. Strikingly slender, with long bill, neck, and legs, the tricolored heron stalks its prey in shallow or deeper water, often running as it does so. It eats fish, crustaceans, reptiles, and insects.
