Belize Biodiversity Information System NAME - Little Blue Heron FAMILY - Ardeidae SCIENTIFIC NAME - Egretta caerulea SYNONYMS - Ardea caerulea - Linnaeus, 1758 REFERENCES - 1 National abundance, Conservation or Economic Status Reference Winter visitor - migrant. 47 Apparently secure in Belize 46 Common: high density, likely to be seen in many places 46 Winter visitor - migrant. 3 U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty 39 District Reference Belize 5 Cayo 4 Corozal 16 Orange Walk 6 Stann Creek 12 Administrative Unit Occurrence Temporal Reference Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve 19 Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve 4 Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve 29 Chiquibul Forest Reserve Migrant 18 Chiquibul Forest Reserve Permanent 17 Shipstern Nature Reserve Sighting Wet season 16 Shipstern Nature Reserve 34 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 25 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 41 Gallon Jug Dry season 23 Gallon Jug Dry season 6 Gallon Jug 21 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary Sighting Dry season 22 Guanacaste National Park 24 Guanacaste National Park 36 Tapir Mtn. Nature Reserve 31 Bladen Nature Reserve Dry season 13 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 40 Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary 14 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument 35 Burdon Canal Nature Reserve Dry season 9 Community Baboon Sanctuary Dry season 27 Community Baboon Sanctuary 33 Lamanai Archaeological Reserve Sighting Dry season 15 Altun Ha Archaeological Reserve 43 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) Sighting Wet season 11 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) Dry season 5 Northern Lagoon/Southern Lagoon (Prop 21 Private land, see comments Sighting Dry season 37 Private land, see comments Sighting March 36 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 26 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 36 Private land, see comments Sighting 36 Private land, see comments Dry season 10 Private land, see comments Dry season 8 Private land, see comments Wet season 12 Private land, see comments 28 Private land, see comments 29 Private land, see comments 30 Private land, see comments 36 Private land, see comments Collected as voucher 44 Private land, see comments Collected as voucher 45 Government land 20 Government land 29 Government land 36 Government land Collected as voucher 44 Cayes, other; see comments Sighting Winter Res 21 Turneffe Reef 32 Monkey River Special Development Area Dry season 38 Caye Caulker Sighting Dry season 7 Hydrologic Association Reference New River Lagoon 41 Belize River 33 Roaring Creek 31 Macal River 4 Belize River 8 Cox's Lagoon 5 Mussel Creek 11 Bladen Branch 13 Sittee River 12 Sibun River 14 New River 15 Raspaculo River 17 Elevation Reference 1-200 m 36 1-200 m 41 1-200 m 42 1-200 m 43 1-200 m 44 1-200 m 45 201-400 m 44 1:50,000 Quadrangle Reference 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 15 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 43 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 21 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 23 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 42 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 45' to 89 00' 42 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 27 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 29 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 30 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 33 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 41 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 29 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 42 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 45 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 21 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 9 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 24 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 29 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 36 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 8 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 28 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 36 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 42 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 5 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 9 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 21 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 26 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 9 17 00' to 17 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' 10 17 00' to 17 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' 44 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 31 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 42 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 6 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 36 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 42 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 6 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 00' to 88 30' 21 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 00' to 88 30' 44 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 4 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 40 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 12 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 37 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 00' to 88 10' 36 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 45' to 89 00' 13 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 40 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 16 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 34 16 15' to 16 30'; 88 15' to 88 30' 38 16 00' to 16 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' 36 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 36 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 35 17 15' to 17 30'; 87 45' to 88 00' 32 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 15' to 88 30' 19 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 25 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 36 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 36 Holdridge Life Zone Reference Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 44 Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 42 Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 36 Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 31 Subtropical wet 40 Subtropical wet 36 Subtropical moist 45 Subtropical moist 44 Subtropical moist 43 Subtropical moist 42 Subtropical moist 41 Subtropical moist 36 Subtropical moist 34 Subtropical moist 33 Marine 35 General Distribution Comments 47* Common northern semideciduous moist forest. Common southern moist-wet evergreen broadleaf forests. Common Mtn. Pine Ridge/savannas on poor soil. Common coastal/low-lands savannas, inc. marshy areas. Common mangroves lowlands & coastal beaches. Common cayes inc. Ambergris. 31* NE portion TMNR, base camp Pook's Hill 30* Big Falls Rice Farm 29* Airport Camp; Big Falls Rice Farm 21* Hunting Caye 20* Belize City 19* Button Lagoon 13* Richardson Creek & Bladen Br. upstream to Calera Caves 12* Possum Point Biological Station 10* Sighted at or within 5 mile radius of Chaa Creek Cottages 8* Banana Bank Ranch 4* Francelia Camp and Rubber Camp 3* Winter resident, common in northern hardwood forests, coastal savannas, mangroves and beaches along the coast of the mainland, and cayes, including Ambergris Cay; uncommon in southern hardwood forests. References 1 A.O.U. 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. 6th Ed. 2 A.O.U. 1985, 1987, 1989. 35th-37th Supplements. 3 Wood, D.S.,R. C. Leberman, and D. Weyer. 1986. Checklist of Birds of Belize. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication 12. 4 Miller, B.W.; C.M. Miller. 1992. Preliminary Avian Survey of the Upper Macal River: Rubber Camp and Francelia Camp, pp.55-63. in Macal River Hydroelectric Development Environmental Impact Assessment Rubber Camp and Chalillo Schemes Pre-feasibility Study - Draft Environmental Appendix. Vol. II of III 5 Hunt, H. R., J. Tamarack. 1992. Cox Lagoon Crocodile Preserve. Unpub. report. pp.4-8. 6 Miller, B. W., 1994. Belize Christmas Bird Counts, Twenty Year Summary. in prep. 7 McRae, E. 1993. Preliminary Check-list - Birds of Caye Caulker. 8 Duncan, M., W. Duncan. 1993. Banana Bank, Nov. 1, Checklist provided in lit. 9 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1993. Preliminary Avian Survey of Burdon Canal Nature Reserve. Unpublished report for the Forest Department 10 Carnegie Ornithological Group and Mass Audubon Ornithological Group, compilers. 1993. Chaa Creek Bird List. Unpublished list. 11 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1987. Conservation of a Critical Marsh and Lowland habitat, Mussel Creek drainage system, Belize, C.A. Report to NYZS/Wildlife Conservation Society. 12 Anon. 1993. Bird Checklist for Possum Point Biological Station, Sittee River, Belize 13 Brokaw, N. L. V., T. L. Lloyd-Evans. 1987. The Bladen Branch Wilderness. p.38-42. Unpublished report. 14 Anon. 1994. Monkey Bay Checklist of Birds. Unpublished list. 15 Noble, B., B. Stewart, J. Dillon. 1994. Lamanai Bird List, Mid-October 1993 - 16 March 1994. 16 Meerman, J. 1993. Checklist of the Birds of the Shipstern Nature Reserve, Occasional Papers of the Belize Natural History Society. 2(10). pp. 71-81. 17 Mallory, E. 1991. Survey of Birds and their Habitats, of the Joint Services Scientific Expedition to Upper Raspaculo, Maya Mountains, Belize. 18 Mallory, E. 1993. Birds of the Upper Raspaculo, Belize: JSSEUR II. Unpublished report. 19 Reichelt, B., C. Philcox. 1994. DRAFT - Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve Natural History Studies. Unpublished report. 20 McDuffie, P. 1993. Personal Bird List for Belize: September 1, 1989 - December 15, 1993. Unpublished list. 21 Russell, S. M. 1964. A Distributional Study of the Birds of British Honduras. Ornithological Monographs No. 1, A.O.U. 22 Wood, D. S., R. C. Leberman. 1987. Results of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Expeditions to Belize. III. Distributional Notes on the Birds of Belize. Annals Carnegie Museum. 56(6):137-160. 23 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1994. A working checklist of the birds of Gallon Jug. Unpublished list. 24 Robbins, C. S., 1987. Birds recorded at Guanacaste National Park. Unpublished list. 25 Anon. 1994 (August). Working Checklist, Birds of Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area. Unpublished list. 26 Forsythe, D. 1994. Unpublished Belize Trip list June 18-21. 27 O'Connell, S. 1987. in Horwich, R. H. and J. Lyon. The Community Baboon Sanctuary, A Guide Book. Orangu-tan Press, Gays Mills, WI. pp. 113. 28 Counsell, D.J.R., B. Etheridge. 1986. RAFOS Expedition to Belize. Unpublished report. 29 Hallchurch, T.T., compiler. 1982. Exercise King Vulture Belize 23 Feb.- 16 March. Unpub. report for the British Army Bird Watching Society. 30 Jenkins, P. G. 1982. The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society Belize Expedition, 1981. 80.pp Unpublished report. 31 Miller, C.M., B.W. Miller. 1994. Preliminary Faunal Surveys at Tapir Mt. Nature Reserve, 27 Nov.-5 Dec., 1994. Unpublished report for BAS. 32 Platt, S. G. 1994. Checklist of Fauna Recorded During Crocodile Surveys of Turneffe Atoll. Unpub. checklist. 33 James, D., J. Bider. 1993. Bird List: Community Baboon Sanctuary, 1989- 1993 (derived from banding & census data, field notes). Unpublished data 34 Quigley, H. B., B. W. Miller, C. M. Miller. 1995. Mammal Survey, Shipstern Nature Reserve, April 4-13, 1995. Unpublished report for ITCF. 35 Pomeroy, C. 1989. Internship Report, Half Moon Caye Natural Monument. Unpublished report for Belize Audubon Society. 36 Robbins, Chandler. 1996. U.S.F.& Wildlife Service Wintering Bird Surveys for Belize. Unpublished data provided by C. Robbins. 37 Meerman, J., T. Boomsma. 1995. False Sittee Point, Stann Creek District, Belize. Biological and Physical Survey 1995. p. 19. 38 Meerman, J.C. ed. 1995. Monkey River Special Development Area Stann Creek District, Belize. Belize Tropical Forest Studies Publication #5. Appendix: Bird List. Unpublished Technical report for B.E.S.T. 39 Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter B., Part 10.13: List of Migratory Birds. U.S. Government Printing Office: 1985 0-488-794. (Lists all species of migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-711). 40 Kamstra, J. May 1987. An Ecological Survey of the Cockscomb Basin, Belize. Masters Thesis. York University, Ontario, Canada 41 Vallely, A. C., A. A. Whitman. 1996. The birds of Hill Bank, northern Belize. Unpublished report for Programme for Belize. 42 Miller, B. W. 1997. Belize Christmas Bird Count Summary 1970-1995. Data from American Birds Vol. 28-50 including 1973-1996. 43 ROM. 1997. Royal Ontario Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jan. 1, 1997. Provided by Brad Millen. 44 Panza, R. 1997. Carnegie Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jun. 1, 1997. 45 Hinshaw, J. 1997. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology bird holdings through Jun. 1, 1997. 46 Miller, B.W., C.M. Miller. 1997. Avian Risk Assessment for Belize, Species at Risk and of Conservation Concern. Report to Programme for Belize/TNC Wings of America Program. 47 Garcia, J., S. Matola, M. Meadows, and C. Wright. 1994. A Checklist of the Birds of Belize. WWF-US. 35p.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Ministry of Natural Resources' Land Information Centre
01/19/98