Snowy Egret

Egretta thulaOrder: CICONIIFORMES Family: Bitterns, Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)

Codes: Common Name: SNEG Scientific Name: EGRTHU ITIS Taxonomic No.: 174813

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Snowy Egret: Medium-sized, totally white egret with a long slender black bill with yellow lores. The eyes are yellow and legs are black while feet are bright yellow. The head, neck and back have long, lacy plumes during breeding season. Generally silent and feeds on crustaceans, insects, and fish.

Range and Habitat

Snowy Egret: Breeds locally from Oregon and California east to New England, mainly along coasts. Spends winters regularly from California, Arizona, and Virginia south to the West Indies and South America. Preferred habitats include marshes, ponds, swamps, and mudflats.

Topo Map: Long-legged-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"wulla-wulla-wulla"

Interesting Facts

At the end of the nineteenth century, the beautiful plumes of the Snowy Egret were in great demand by market hunters as decorations for women's hats. In 1886, plumes were valued at $32 per ounce, which was twice the price of gold at the time. They were hunted nearly to extinction before laws were passed to protect them.

There is evidence that a pair of Snowy Egrets cannot recognize each other except at the nest. Even there, a bird arriving to relieve its mate must perform an elaborate greeting ceremony in order to avoid being attacked as an intruder.

They choose urbanized nesting locations over isolated ones, because isolated locations have more predators. Egrets use flight to escape predation from terrestrial animals and they are known to have innate recognition and avoidance of poisonous snakes.

A group of egrets has many collective nouns, including a "congregation", "heronry", "RSVP", "skewer", and "wedge" of egrets.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Related Birds

Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Little Blue Heron
Little Egret

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Snowy Egret

● Song: "wulla-wulla-wulla"

● Foraging & Feeding: Snowy Egret: Eats small fish, crustaceans, and insects, but also takes small reptiles and amphibians; forages by walking slowly or standing motionless in water and striking at prey.

● Breeding & nesting: Snowy Egret: Lays two to six pale blue-green eggs in a platform nest built primarily of twigs and built in a tree, usually about 7 feet above the ground; occasionally nests in marsh grass and rarely on the ground. Both parents incubate eggs for 18 days.

● Similar species: Snowy Egret: Great Egret and "Great White" Heron are larger with thicker, yellow bills. Cattle Egret is smaller with yellow or orange bill and pale legs. Reddish Egret and Juvenile Little Blue Heron have dark-tipped pale bills and gray legs.

Flight Pattern

Buoyant flight with steady fast wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Snowy Egret: Breeds locally from Oregon and California east to New England, mainly along coasts. Spends winters regularly from California, Arizona, and Virginia south to the West Indies and South America. Preferred habitats include marshes, ponds, swamps, and mudflats.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationExpanding northward, Increasing

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight13.1 Ounces

Long-legged-like Body

Plumes

Large, conspicuous, showy feathers.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Snowy Egret

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Range and Habitat

Topo Map: Long-legged-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

Interesting Facts

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Related Birds

Snowy Egret

Flight Pattern