Species

Snowy egret

Egretta thula

An elegant white egret with a black bill and bright 'golden slippers', which stirs up prey with its feet.

Photo Rhododendrites (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

At a glance

Size: About 56 to 66 cm long
Weight: About 370 g
Habitat: Salt marshes, tidal creeks, ponds and ditches
Diet: Fish, shrimp, crabs and insects
In Georgia: Common on the coast all year; summer visitor inland
Voice: A raspy croak
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: All white; slim black bill; yellow skin in front of the eye; black legs with bright yellow feet
Told apart from: Great egret, which is larger with a yellow bill and black feet
Told apart from: Young little blue heron, which has a grey-based bill and greenish legs
Where to look: Tidal creeks and marsh edges

Behaviour

Snowy egrets are active hunters, dashing, stirring the water with their yellow feet and even hovering to catch fish. They often follow other birds to catch prey they disturb.

Why they matter

Snowy egrets were hunted almost to extinction for their plumes, which were once worth more than gold by weight. Their recovery is part of the same conservation story as the great egret's, and they are now a common sight in Georgia's marshes.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A platform of sticks in shrubs or trees, in mixed colonies
Eggs — Usually three to five
Incubation — About 20 to 24 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Flight — At about four weeks
Lifespan — Wild birds over sixteen years are recorded

Living around people

Fishing line tangled around legs is a common injury in egrets.

Misconceptions

Egrets and herons are different kinds of bird. Egrets are herons, most of them white.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Present on the coast	Present	Colonies forming	Nesting	Nesting	Chicks	Young fledging	Young dispersing inland	Present	Inland birds leave	Present on the coast	Present on the coast

Where it lives

Recorded in 66 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

If you found one

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