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Priorities for Future Research
Almost nothing is known of the ecology and current status of the Tricolored Heron throughout its Central and South American range. Although the species has been well documented in the past in the West Indies, most reports are now more than 30 years old and need to be updated. For management and conservation, the importance of estuarine productivity and function to reproduction and distribution seems critical. Though all aspects of the nesting period are quite well described and measured, almost nothing is known of the critical first year of life, including habitat preferences, development of hunting behavior, survival, and age at first breeding. Adult survival is so far unmeasured. Finally, the most recent comprehensive surveys for this species are now 20 years old, and little information exists on the current population status of this species in the United States.
Frederick, Peter C. 1997. Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/306
