Today's featured feathered friend is the Snowy Egret. This small, white Heron is a year-round resident of the Atlantic coast and Gulf coast states as well as most of South America and the Caribbean Islands.
Snowy Egrets are very sleek and elegant. They are entirely white with black legs and bright yellow feet. Their bill is long, black and needle like. In breeding season their facial skin turns from bright yellow to a dull reddish-orange. Adult males and females are similar in appearance. Immature birds are similar to adults but with duller facial skin. Snowy Egrets are 24 inches in length, weigh slightly less than a pound, with a wingspan of nearly 40 inches.
There are several other white egrets in Florida; the Great Egret which is much larger with a very large yellow bill and the Cattle Egret which is slightly smaller with a thick yellow bill. A more challenging I.D. is the immature Little Blue Heron. A young Little Blue is also all white, but has a two-colored bill and green legs.
Click on the links below to read how "plume" hunters threatened this species in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Enjoy some of our favorite photos of the Snowy Egret.....tweet.....tweet!!
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| Looking great in my yellow slippers. (Taken 3/5/14, Ft. De Soto County Park, St. Petersburg FL) |
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| In breeding plumage. (Taken 4/11/14, Pinelands Preserve, Laurel FL) |
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| In attack mode, this Snowy just flew in and chased off another Snowy in a territorial dispute. (Taken 10/5/14, North Skyway Bridge rest area, Pinellas County FL) |
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| Note the size difference (Snowy Egret, left - Great Egret, right) (Taken 7/16/14, Fort De Soto County Park, St. Petersburg FL) |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_egret
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