Snowy Egret

Egretta thula
STANFORD LOCATIONS:

Irregular visitor to Lagunita in winter and spring, when water is present.
  
Nest
Location
Nest
Type
Eggs
Mating System
Dev.
Parental Care
Primary &
2ndary Diet
Foraging
Strategy
MF
I: 20-24 DAYS
SEMIALTRICIAL 1
SHRUB
 5-10 feet
(0-30 feet)
MF
3-5
(3-6)
MONOG
F: 30 DAYS
MF
FISH
INSECTS
  
BREEDING: Marshes, lakes, ponds, shallow coastal habitats. 1 brood
DISPLAYS: With erect plumes: territorial display incl crest raising, accompanied by calls; in courtship: male stretches neck, points bill skyward and calls; circle flight, tumbling flights.
NEST: Rarely in cactus or on ground; flat, flimsy, of sticks. Lined with fine twigs, rushes. Occ in marsh vegetation. Male collects material, female builds.
EGGS: Light bluish-green. 1.7" (43 mm).
DIET: Also small vertebrates.
CONSERVATION: Winters s to n S.A. Decimated by plume hunters; subsequent range expansion beyond prehunting limits. DDE (probably from Mexico) leads to nest failure in ID populations.
NOTES: Highly colonial, usu in mixed colonies. Asynchronous hatching often leads to starvation of smallest chicks. Young leave nest at 20-25 days. Most diverse foraging techniques of any heron; active pursuit of prey compared with most herons, egrets. Uses yellow feet to stir mud to flush prey. Occ feeds following Glossy Ibis (or other species) and capturing food stirred up by ibis. Communal roost at night when not breeding, oft moving to and from roost in flocks.
ESSAYS: Plume Trade; DDT and Birds; Communal Roosting; Commensal Feeding; Brood Reduction; Range Expansion.
REFERENCES: Erwin, 1983; Hancock and Kushlan, 1984; Raye and Burger, 1979.

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Except for Stanford Locations, the material in this species treatment is taken, with permission, from The Birder's Handbook (Paul Ehrlich, David Dobkin, & Darryl Wheye, Simon & Schuster, NY. 1988).