Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Tricolored Heron
Scientific name:	Egretta tricolor
Date:	June 8, 2026
Time:	13:40
Length of time observed:	3 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	Adult
Sex:	Unknown
Location:	Dugway Proving Grounds; sewage lagoons
County:	Tooele
Latilong:	40.2027127, -112.7781286
Elevation:	4500 feet
Distance to bird:	20 feet
Optical equipment:	Vortex crossfire 10x42 binoculars; canon EOS70D zoom 250mm.
Weather:	Sunny, windy
Light Conditions:	Good
Description: Size of bird:	Medium-sized heron, much smaller than GBHE
(Description:) Basic Shape:	Long thin neck, hefty large bill, long thin legs
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	Dark blue with some iridescence. White belly and underwings. Thin white stripe down neck.
(Description:) Bill Type:	Long and thick.
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	Prominent thin white stripe from chin down to belly. Completely white belly and underwings to contrast with shiny dark blue back and head. Red eye. Yellow lores. Extremely long bill, which wasn t very colorful; a pale gray to beige coloring. Long thin yellow-green legs. Some buffy tones on the white neck stripe under the chin. Size was evidence of ruling out even a juvenile GBHE. (see photos)
Song or call & method of delivery:	None
Behavior:	Foraging on rocky edges of the sewage lagoon pool. Wary of us, the observers, and would flush to the other side of the pool or an adjacent pool if we got too close.
Habitat:	Industrial pool; appearing to be a large man-made pond surrounded by rocky edges with very limited vegetation. Three adjacent pools made up the sewage lagoon. The water itself seemed rather shallow and boasted some algae and many bugs. Unsure if there were fish in the pools. Likely not because the heron went after a lizard in the rocks at some point. The pools were frequented by several waterfowl and water birds including GWTE, MALL, WIPH, CANG and KILL.
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	GBHE: our specimen immediately struck us as tiny because we were expecting to see the common, huge great blue that is likely in this and surrounding counties. This specimen was much darker overall, with a more uniform appearance. It had short white head plumes unlike the GBHE s dark plumes. The legs were a bright yellow green color, rather than GBHE grayish leg colors. Eyes were red rather than yellow. LBHE: this was our main identification competitor, our specimen being so small and dark blue. But our specimen boasted that TRHE characteristic white stripe down the neck, and a bright white belly. It also didn t carry its neck tucked, but had it stretched out the entire time we observed it. LBHE neck is much shorter.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	I had seen TRHE in Costa Rica two months ago. Still I wasn t familiar enough to jump to that conclusion. I knew immediately it was too small to be a GBHE with which I am very familiar. Marissa Whitaker who was with me has birded in Mexico several times and seen this heron up close on multiple occasions. It was she who suggested it was a Tricolored and not a Little Blue.
References consulted:	Merlin ID, Audubon, other experienced birders (Keeli Marvel)
Description from:	From photo(s) taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Elyse Owen
Observer's address:	Provo UT 84606
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	Keeli Marvel and Kalon Throop went looking for the heron after I reported it and confirmed the sighting.
Date prepared:	June 18, 2026
Additional material:	Photos
Additional comments: