Wednesday, May 4, 2011

SNOWY EGRETS OR THE BAD HAIR DAY EGRET!!!

One of the smaller egrets is the Snowy Egret. It looks a lot like the Great White Egret only smaller. The great white is about 3.5 feet tall while the snowy egret is about two feet in length and has a wingspan of about three feet. It has white feathers, a yellow patch of skin around its eyes, a black bill and black legs with bright yellow feet. In breeding season, it has lacy plumes on its head, neck and back. Males and females look alike.  I really found them to be really cute and pretty funny looking. They always seem to be having a bad hair day.

The snowy egret runs after its food. It eats shrimp, minnows and other small fish,  crustaceans and frogs. It often feeds in groups.


The snowy egret breeds on the Atlantic Coast, the Pacific Coast and the Gulf Coast. It is also found in some inland areas. It winters from California south to South America on the west coast and from Virginia south to the West Indies on the east coast.
 When it comes to the nesting season.The male selects a  breeding area. Both the male and female build the nest. The male collects the materials and the female does the constructing. The nest is made of reeds and twigs and is placed in a bush or on the ground. The female lays three to five eggs and both parents share incubation duties. The eggs hatch in about three weeks. Both parents care for the chicks and feed them regurgitated food. The chicks fledge when they are about a month old.

    The mother slowly turning the eggs to insure all sides get evenly warm.


We really enjoyed watching the snowy egret at the Alligator farm. It would fly from one tree to the other constantly looking to mate. Sometime it would be welcomed but when it was not the female made it pretty clear that he was not welcomed!! But undeterred he would just fly on to the next tree or shrub. The males were not that bothered if the female already had a suitor. It would attempt to land beside or between the two often scaring the other male away.
He would then perch next to the female and the two would act like they had been together all the time. To be honest maybe they were and the other male was the intruder. Either way the two of them would stay side by side for quite a while.
Like other egrets, the snowy egret was once killed for its plumes. Its population was seriously damaged in the 1800's. It has made a recovery and is no longer hunted.
WE should all be grateful for that, to not have these beautiful birds around would be a real shame.








14 comments:

Rimly said...

Jim another beautiful post. They do look funny with their hair standing. I love the color of their eggs.Thank you for increasing our knowledge

Panther GOODY said...

Nice photos and very good information! Jim, you never disappoint. Keep up the excellent work.

Aaron said...

Jim,
I think you missed your calling as a wildlife photographer. Have you ever entered any of your bird photos in contests before?

As always the shots are just wonderful. I am always astounded at how sharp and clean you are able to get your bird shots.
Aaron

JIM said...

Thank You Rimly It seems all egrets have blue eggs

Ricky thank you...I'll keep trying lol


Aaron..No I never really wanted to enter them. I am more interested in selling them lol

Alfandi said...

bad hair day or not..they're still gorgeous..great shots..

Alpana Jaiswal said...

what photographs Jim..its like seeing them live..and as I said the information u provide adds to it...its a pleasure to be here.

Roy Durham said...

we have the snowy egrets here and love to watch them when i am fishing heck i love just about anything that flies. if you have and i sure you do get pics of the sand hills and the great blue heroins. thank you and god bless

Louise said...

Truly gorgeous photos...great shots..x

sheril benedict said...

Beautiful images !! Blue egg was different

Debra said...

I second Aaron’s comment. You are a fabulous wildlife photographer! Never a dull moment in your world.

Anonymous said...

OMG! That first picture is awesome! =) You should use that one and hold a caption contest for it! LOL Priceless!

I have to admit...I was really surprised to see that the eggs are the same color of a Robin Egg. Interesting!

Anonymous said...

Awesome clicks!

Corinne Rodrigues said...

What a keen eye and great skill you have, Jim. You cover the romance of the birds with the same passion as you do weddings! I truly admire you.

Melissa Tandoc said...

of the photos, i like best the fourth and ninth... they are outstanding... the colors, the background and all...

i have something similar with the egrets huh, :p... anyhow, they are beautiful subjects and i should take a look at them again :p...