Snowy Egret
| Egretta thula |
Order CICONIIFORMES - Family ARDEIDAE |
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- Description
- Similar Species
- Sound
- Range
- Other Names
A small, active white heron, the Snowy Egret is found in small ponds as well as along the ocean shore. Its black legs and yellow feet quickly identify it.
Description
- Size: 56-66 cm (22-26 in)
- Wingspan: 100 cm (39 in)
- Weight: 370 g (13.06 ounces)
- Medium-sized, slender all-white heron.
- Back legs and yellow feet.
- Long thin neck, bill, and legs.
- Bill dark.
Sex Differences
Sexes look alike.
Immature
Similar to adult, but bill pale at base and legs yellow with black front edge.
Similar Species
- Immature Little Blue Heron has pale, dull green legs and
feet and a bill that is mostly grayish, with a black tip.
- Great Egret is larger, has a mostly yellow bill, and deep
black legs and feet.
- Great White Heron, the white form of the Great Blue
Heron, is much larger, and has a heavier, mostly yellow bill.
- The white form of the Reddish Egret has a dark or
bi-colored bill with a pink base, is larger and shaggier, has all dark legs
and feet, and is found only in salt water.
- Cattle Egret is much shorter and stockier, has a thick,
usually yellow bill, and often has a reddish wash over the head, back, and
chest.
Sound
A loud, nasal squawk in aggression or territorial defense.
»listen to songs of this species
Range
Range Map
© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Summer Range
Breeds primarily coastally from southern Maine southward, and inland across the western United States. Also southward through the Caribbean and South America.
Winter Range
Winters along the southern coasts of the United States and southward.
Other Names
Aigrette neigeuse (French)
Garceta pie-dorado, Garza chusmita, Garza nivea (Spanish)
Sources used to construct this page:
Parsons, K. C., and T. L. Master. 2000. Snowy Egret (Egretta thula). In The Birds of North America, No. 489 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
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