| Snowy Egret | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Ardeidae |
| Genus: | Egretta |
| Species: | Egretta thula |
The Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) is a relatively small, graceful heron found in South, Central, and parts of North America.
Description[]
The Snowy Egret is a 60 cm (24 in) long bird with a 104 cm (41 in) wingspan and an entirely white plumage. It has a slender black bill, featherless yellow lores, yellow eyes, black legs and yellow feet. The feet and lores turn orange-red during the breeding season. The adult has long plumes on its head, neck, and back. The juvenile lacks these plumes, has yellow-green backs of legs, and may have a bit of blueish-grey at the base of the bill.
Behavior[]
Feeding[]
This bird feeds mostly on small fish, amphibians, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic insects, which it hunts by moving around quickly, stirring up the water with its feet and then repeatedly stabbing its prey with its bill.
Breeding[]
The Snowy Egret nests in large colonies, often mixed with other heron species. A colony may include up to several hundred nests, which are usually located either on the ground or low in shrubs 5 to 10 ft (1.5 to 3 m) tall. The nest is a platform made of sticks, built by both the male and the female. The clutch consists of 3-5 blue-green eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 20-24 days. The chicks hatch days apart, leading to the starvation of the last to hatch. Both parents feed the remaining young, which fledge at about one month of age.
Distribution and habitat[]
A common aquatic bird found in marshes, ponds, mangrove swamps and, occasionally, dry fields, the Snowy Egret is a year-round resident in most of South America and Central America. Populations that breed in the southern United States are migratory, wintering mostly in Mexico. In the summer, postbreeding vagrants may reach far north of the species' range, showing up in the northern US and in Canada. The Snowy Egret has even occurred as a vagrant in the Azores and in the British Isles.
Conservation[]
Up until the beginning of the 20th century, the Snowy Egret was extensively hunted for its plumes, which were sold as fashion accessories. By the end of the 19th century, these feathers had become worth twice much as their weight in gold, and the Egret was brought to the brink of extinction. But it was also around this time that the damages brought about by this kind of trends sparked protest movements all around the world. This would eventually lead to the creation of the first international organizations for the protection of wild birds. The plume trade was ended in North America in 1910, but continued for some time in Central and South America. The Snowy Egret is now protected, its population has recovered and its range is expanding.
Similar species[]
- Great Egret, larger and with yellow legs and bill
- Little Egret, essentially the Old World equivalent of the Snowy Egret
- Cattle Egret, smaller and with yellow bill
- Immature Little Blue Heron, also white but with dull yellowish legs and two-toned bill