Snowy Egret Photo Gallery
Breeding adult
Medium-sized snow white heron with a black bill and yellow feet.
© Evan Lipton / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, April 18, 2015Immature
Immature birds look similar to adults, but have dull yellowish green legs.
© Evan Lipton / Macaulay LibraryRhode Island, August 17, 2017Adult
Often eats insects attracted to washed up beach debris. While foraging, sometimes they vibrate their bills, sway their heads, or flick their wings. This video has no audio and was filmed in slow motion.
© Benjamin Clock / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, March 25, 2013Not all videos have soundBreeding adult
During the breeding season, adult Snowy Egrets develop long, wispy feathers on their backs, necks, and heads.
© Ben Frueh / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, December 30, 2016Adult
Stalks, walks, or runs after fish, frogs, and aquatic invertebrates. Often uses its bright yellow feet to stir up the water or probe in the mud, rounding up prey before striking with its bill.
© John Sutton / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, March 20, 2016Adult
Medium-sized heron with a long neck and daggerlike bill. Entirely white with a yellow patch of skin in front of the eye.
© Evan Lipton / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, August 13, 2016Adult (with Great Egret)
Snowy Egrets are smaller than Great Egrets and have a black (not yellow) bill and yellow (not black) feet.
© DigiBirdTrek CA / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, July 08, 2017Habitat
Found in mudflats, beaches, and wetlands, but also forages in wet agricultural fields and along the edges of rivers and lakes.
© Jeanne-Marie Maher / Macaulay LibraryNew Hampshire, June 15, 2017Compare with Similar Species
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Species in This Family
Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns(Order: Pelecaniformes, Family: Ardeidae)
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