Snowy Egret

Egrets Arrive From the South

Snowy Egret

 It is early May and the egrets have arrived.  At this time of year we usually have two species of egrets stray into our province from the south.  Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets often come in the spring and a third species, Cattle Egrets, often come in the fall.  Snowy Egrets are listed as rare visitors in 'Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List'.

On Sunday, April 28, we found 2 Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula) at Saints Rest Marsh in Saint John.  They were on the highway side of the marsh and were easily seen from the roadside.  They were busy feeding and comfortable with the heavy traffic whizzing by.   It was a real treat to watch them.

The Snowy Egret is smaller than the Great Egret (61 cm/24" compared to 99cm/39") but larger than the Cattle Egret, which is only 51 cm/20" long.  The Snowy is a delicate-looking bird,  pure white with beautiful plumes coming off its head and breast in breeding season.  It has a black bill and yellow orbital areas.  Its legs are black with bright yellow feet, 'golden slippers' as described by some.  It is found in both fresh and salt water habitats but usually appears in salt marshes here.  It feeds on fish, aquatic invertebrates and sometimes snakes and amphibians.  It feeds by standing still in water and stabbing at prey.

Snowy Egret

Usually the only species that you would have to distinguish the Snowy Egret from here is the Great Egret and size and the presence of the black bill and yellow feet tell you it is a Snowy.  However, in rarer circumstances you might have to differentiate it from a white morph Little Blue Heron which would be very rare here.  That form of the Little Blue Heron has a bicoloured bill,  greenish legs and often black tips to its primary feathers.

The Snowy Egret is a permanent resident of Florida, the coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina, Mexico, California and the West Indies.  It moves northward throughout the US as far as the mid-central area to breed and some of those migrating birds overshoot up the eastern coast to Maine and New Brunswick.  In its normal range it forms colonies with other large wading birds.  It nests in trees where it builds a platform nest from twigs and sticks.  It occasionally nests in marsh grass.  Both adults incubate the eggs for 18 days.

Snowy Egret

The Snowy Egret population was nearly driven to extinction in the late 1800s and early 1900s due to the millinery industry.  Their beautiful plumes became desirable to decorate womens' hats and the price of plumes was driven above the price of gold at that time.  That led to the near demise of this beautiful species!  Human beings and their foibles!  I hope we have learned that vanity does not trump the conservation of our animal and plant species.

Another interesting fact about the Snowy Egret comes from iBirdPro.  Apparently a pair of these egrets has trouble recognizing each other, distinguishing the individual from any other Snowy Egret.  When one of the mates arrives at the nest to relieve the other, it has to do a special greeting ceremony to be recognized.  Otherwise it would be attacked by the mate.  That is something we miss seeing because these birds do not breed here.