camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Auto WB works pretty good for most subjects but it is not infallible. During daytime hours I prefer to use sunny if those are the conditions I find during my shooting.
It seems that you shot this picture early in the day when the light is warm. Your Auto WB did the right job and rendered the subject like it was at the time.
If you use Photoshop you can make a color correction and I usually go to Adjustments>Match Color and play with the Fade Arrow to my taste. Shadows should be opened to get more details.
Is this what you want? You can only open the shadows and leave it like it is. Your choice.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

The light meter reads everything as 18% gray. So one should keep that in mind when you are photographing. If you are photoshooting black the meter will read it as 18% gray and the same for white. And there are many shades in between. A spot meter will help in the photo to get a more accurate reading. Or you can always bracket then select.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

I use auto white balance and correct in PP except when photographing the night sky I use K 3850

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

Yes, your heron is backlit. You needed one or two stops more exposure, in which case your background would be washed out, or you need fill flash, in which case you get only one shot because your heron would make a hasty exit.

mstuhr Loc: Oregon

Agree with Linda.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yes. Meter and perform a Custom White Balance (I think Nikon calls it a Preset White Balance) off of a Delta-1 Gray Card, or a One Shot Digital Calibration Target, or use an ExpoDisc, or a WhiBal, or... All of these and more are available here:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Light-White-Balancing-Accessories/ci/12260/N/4077634549?origSearch=White%20balance

They all work when used as directed. Some are more practical in certain situations than others. I seldom use my ExpoDisc, but I use the Gray Card and One Shot Target all the time.

You can use most of these tools for both raw capture post processing "click to white balance," and for pre-capture custom white balance for JPEG in-camera processing.

Auto White Balance is a blessing and a curse. It sees the world as a middle-toned neutral gray, so if you point it at a subject or scene that is predominantly one color, you'll get a shift in the opposite direction. For instance, if you photograph a blonde in a yellow dress against a yellow wall, her skin will come out blue.

The absolute WORST time to use AWB is when photographing a lot of different objects in the same scene or against the same background. In that case, you need to use a fixed white balance of some sort, either a custom/preset white balance, or a Kelvin setting, or one of the built-ins such as Incandescent, Fluorescent, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, or Flash. An example would be photographing 50 people dressed in all sorts of different colors, against a neutral gray background. If you use AWB, the clothing will shift the white balance and the subjects will be rendered differently if they are wearing very saturated or bright colors. The backgrounds will come out differently in each image. If all the images are displayed together somewhere (book, bulletin board, directory...), the lack of uniformity can be jarring.

Flash white balance tends to be calibrated for the camera manufacturer's own flash units, and is usually too red-orange for studio strobes. In fact, I've usually found the Daylight setting to be a closer match with reality for ALL strobes. But a Custom/Preset white balance is the BEST match.

Fluorescent white balance is usually better than Daylight or AWB when working in fluorescent light, but since every brand and age and type of fluorescent lamp emits a different and discontinuous color spectrum, a Custom/Preset white balance will be a better match.

Daylight WB is fine if the sun is out, between about 9:30 AM and 3:30 PM most of the year.

Shade WB is better than Daylight WB when your scene is lit by clear blue sky ONLY. Cloudy WB is better than Daylight WB when your scene is lit by a completely overcast sky. BUT, a Custom/Preset WB is better than all of these!

Note that one of two things happens when you set a white balance:

1) Your JPEGs are processed with that setting (This includes the JPEG PREVIEW image stuffed into a raw file!)
2) The white balance setting is included in the EXIF information, and MAY be used by your post-photography processing software to display an INITIAL interpretation of your raw file when you open it. When that is the case, you can save a lot of time fiddling, especially if you recorded the scene with a custom/preset white balance!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

That is exposure error. Due to metering too much of the back lighting. Meter off the bird's feathers!

And if you shoot Raw and process with Photoshop or Lightroom, it does not really matter where your camera's WB is set (in most cases). One click in Adobe Camera Raw will set it to whatever standard Color Temperature you like. And if you want a custom one (that could have been set in the camera's WB), a second move of a slider can give you 5600K if you prefer that to 5500K. Keep at it!

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Mark, 99% of the time, I do an image specific white balance. With your image there is a great deal of brown included in the image, that along with a substantial amount of green. This is going to influence the white balance considerably. If you'd like, I can do that white balance on this one and repost it later today.
--Bob

GLbro Loc: Sacramento County

I like to experiment with my white balance. If you can take the same shot several times, try to use different WB settings for each shot. Look at the different results and decide which you like the most. I don't leave my camera on auto. I would rather try to find differences that I like the best. Good luck with your choices.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

What does the histogram imply. Partly cloudy skies tend to undersupply the longer wavelengths, but as the sun lowers to the horizon the light tends to lose the short wavelengths. So late afternoon or early morning cloudy skies is very dice light to deal with.

AnthonyBiss Loc: Toronto, Ontario

I do suggest you use MANUAL mode for shooting and metering. The Aperture and Speed is set, any environmental change will not change these settings. ELSE, use "PRE" and set your WD
DR.Al

AnthonyBiss Loc: Toronto, Ontario

I use EXpo-Disc and correct in LR for all shooting.
Dr.Al

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

Very good solution:

http://xritephoto.com/colorchecker-passport-photo

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

WB can be a very personal thing. I usually prefer a 'shade' WB and that's where my dial sits except when shooting something specific. Although I am a firm believer of getting it right in-camera (film days), I shoot in raw which allows me to correct my mistakes as needed. Using Lr makes correcting hundreds of shots from a shoot fairly simple. Best of luck.

RDJpanther

Sometimes when you do not have good sun to bring out the colors, there is nothing you can do. The law of the sun and lighting.