Notes on the plumages and generic status of the Little Blue Heron

The juvenal plumage of the Little Blue Heron (Florida caerulea) has always been described as white with dull brownish gray tips to the primaries (Palmer, 1962: 428, and earlier authors). In September 1962, when Dickermanw as collectingb lood specimensfr om nestling h rons in a large mixed colony at San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico, an assistant brought to theboat for bleeding a large ambulatory nestling, 20-25 days of age, which because of the chestnut suffusion on the crown and back was considered at the time a hybrid between the Little Blue Heron and Louisiana Heron (Hydranassa tricolor).

ROBERT W. DICKERMAN AND KENNETH C. PARKES, The Auk, 85: 437-440