Species: Egretta thula

Snowy Egret

Species

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

A small white wading bird with a slim, pointed, black bill; long legs are all black or black with yellow-green on the back side (juveniles); toes yellow; breeding adult has long plumes on head, neck, and back; lores yellow, turning red in adults during breeding season; average length 61 cm, wingspan 104 cm.

Source: Encyclopedia of Life

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Ciconiiformes

Family

Ardeidae

Genus

Egretta

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100485

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Garcinha-Branca, Garça-Pequena - Garcita Blanca, Garceta Pie-Dorado - aigrette neigeuse

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Wading Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Ciconiiformes - Ardeidae - Egretta - May constitute a superspecies with E. GARZETTA, E. GULARIS, and E. DIMORPHA (AOU 1998). Frequently placed in genus LEUCOPHOYX (AOU 1983).

Ecology and Life History

Source: Encyclopedia of Life

Short General Description

A large wading bird (egret).

Migration

true - true - true - Migratory in north. Northern birds winter largely in Middle America (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Eats small fishes, frogs, lizards, snakes, crustaceans, worms, snails, and insects; forages actively in shallow water, sometimes in fields. (Palmer 1962). May forage in coordinated groups in coastal areas (Costa Rica, Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Reproduction Comments

Eggs are laid usually April to May or June in north; nests in Trinidad May-October, May-August in Costa Rica. Clutch size usually is 4-5 in north, 2-4 in south. Incubation lasts 18 days or longer, by both sexes. Young leave nest at 20-25 days. May first breed at one year. Often nests in large colonies.

Ecology Comments

Usually occurs in loose groups. Roosts usually communally.

Length

Weight

371

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-20

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-20

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: northern California, southern Idaho, Kansas, lower Mississippi Valley, and Gulf and Atlantic coasts north to Maine, south through Mexico and the Antilles to South America (to southern Chile and central Argentina). See Spendelow and Patton (1988) for information on the distribution and abundance of coastal U.S. breeding colonies. NON-BREEDING: northern California, southwestern Arizona, Gulf Coast, and South Carolina southward through the breeding range. In the U.S., areas with the highest densities in winter include the Gulf Coast along the Texas-Louisiana border, the mouth of the Mississippi River, the lower Colorado River, and Florida (Root 1988). Wanders irregularly outside usual range; rare straggler to Hawaii.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100485