A small heron of wetlands and estuaries in the southeastern United States. Some birds breeding inland migrate to Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Adults have a rich purple-maroon head and neck and a dark slaty-blue body. Their eyes are yellow, legs greenish, and bills pale blue at the base with a black tip.
It slowly stalks shallow water for fish and amphibians. It builds a stick nest in a tree and may breed in a colony with other waterbirds.
Juveniles are almost entirely white, with faint dusky tips on the outer primary feathers. Birds molting into adult plumage show a patchwork of white and blue.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.