Juvenile Little blue heron?

[Tim Abbott]

I saw this bird on the south end of the Click ponds at the Viera wetlands complex.  I thought it was a juvenile little blue heron, but the legs should be light green shouldn't they?

[Ira Runyan]

Yes, it is a juvenile Little Blue Heron which for some reason has dark colored legs. You will note however it also has black feet, and if this bird was a Snowy Egret the feet would be bright yellow in color.

[Tim Abbott]

Thanks Ira.

[Ira Runyan]

Tim, I have been reading some reports of Snowy Egret x Little Blue Heron hybrids. Such a hybrid could be the reason the bird you photographed has black legs and feet. You may have found an oddity in the bird world.

I think I will see if I can find your bird and take some more photographs of it.

[Tim Abbott]

It was on the south edge of the south storage ponds behind the Duda sod buildings Ira. I didn't notice the legs till I saw the photos on the computer.

[Ira Runyan]

Well Tim, I went by the south Click Pond this morning and found many juvenile Little Blue Herons were there.

Several of them had yellow/green legs like this one.......



Then I saw several others that had black legs like in these two photos......





So I would have to say that leg color can not be used to identify a juvenile Little Blue Heron.

Another birder, Dan Irizarry, suggested an explanation -  "Hormones on overdrive in breeding season. Happens even to immature birds sometimes.".

[Tim Abbott]

Thanks Ira for the info.

[Ira Runyan]

"Hormones on overdrive in breeding season. Happens even to immature birds sometimes." This explanation seams to be correct, for the ones with black legs are showing the blue colored breeding color on the upper part of the bill. Also, I have read that the adult Little Blue Heron has green legs except when showing breeding colors their legs become black in color.

[Tim Abbott]

Thanks Ira, I have learned a lot on this forum. I noticed the bill color too & thought that was unusual for a juvenile.