Great Blue Heron red feathers... (1 Viewer)

[IDidiot]

Hi All,

I've been noticing that the GBH's are starting to get their breeding plumage. I saw many today! At least five along my canal. At first I thought this one was stressessed or being picked on by other birds, but now see that these are really red feathers. Is the amount of brownish red feathers a sign of gender? age? of readiness to breed? I noticed the other herons today didn't have these red/brown areas to such a degree as this individual.

SMW

 

[nartreb]

It's partly a matter of posture - those feathers aren't easily visible from the side, or when the long neck feathers are fluffed, etc. But there is some variability in the vividness of the color and I don't know if it correlates to sex or breeding. Age, yes: immature birds don't get the red patches, as far as I've ever seen.