This week’s Bird of the Week, compliments of the Weminuche Audubon Society and Audubon Rockies, is the snowy egret.
During May, three species of the bright white herons known as egrets have made an appearance in our area. The snowy egret, averaging 2 feet tall, is intermediate between the great egret at 3 feet and the slightly smaller cattle egret, which stands at 1.5 feet.
The adult snowy egret is known as the bird that wears golden slippers, a reference to the bright color of its feet during breeding season. Long and thin describe its black legs, black bill and white neck. The patch of yellow skin at the base of the bill turns reddish during courtship. The gorgeous features which nearly caused the snowy’s extinction are the filmy, curving feather plumes that develop on their backs, necks and heads during breeding season.
Snowy egrets are primarily birds of coastal wetlands and inland large river drainages. They are found on both coasts, down through Mexico and Central America, and throughout South America. They travel through our area to inland wetland areas used for breeding in patches of North America.
Unlike larger herons that minimize energy use by foraging with slow, deliberate movements, snowy egrets employ active feeding strategies that require maximizing food intake. They stir up prey by walking, running, hopping and sometimes hovering over the water to watch for fish. In either saltwater or fresh, they mainly feed on aquatic animals: fish, frogs, worms, crustaceans and insects.
Snowys are highly social all year, feeding and nesting in large colonies in close proximity to other species. They build their platform nests of sticks at the tops or outer branches of woody vines, shrubs or trees. Although they generally nest in isolated swamps, marshes and islands, they can be unwelcome visitors when they nest in large, noisy, messy colonies in coastal residential neighborhoods.
When the plumes of these and other egrets were sought by the fashion industry to adorn hats, snowy egrets were killed in such large numbers that they were on the path to extinction. Through the work of concerned citizens and the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, these and other beautiful birds were protected before it was too late.
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Photo courtesy Charles Martinez