Snowy Egret, Egretta thula

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula brewsteri. Photographs taken with the rocky shoreline of the greater Bahía de los Ángeles area, Baja California, January 2020. Photographs courtesy of George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles. Identifications courtesy of Mary & George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles.

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula brewsteri. Bird photographed in the greater Los Cabos area of Baja California Sur, December 2019. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula brewsteri. Bird photographs taken in the greater Los Cabos area of Baja California Sur, December 2019 thru March 2020. Photographs courtesy of Carol Snow, Del Mar, California.

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula thula. Bird photographed in the greater Mexico City area, March 2021. Photograph and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula thula. Bird photographed in the greater Zihuantanejo area, Guerrero, January 2020. Photograph and identification courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula thula. Bird photographed within Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, March 2021. Photograph and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula thula. Bird photographed in the greater Zihuantanejo area, Guerrero, March 2019. Photograph courtesy of Cheryl Anne Orrell, Montrose, British Columbia, Canada.

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula thula. Photograph taken in the coastal area of Yavaros, Sonora, March 2017. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula thula. Photograph taken in the coastal area of Yavaros, Sonora, November 2018 and December 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula thula. Photograph taken within the Everglades National Park, South Florida, April 2020. Photograph and identification courtesy of Faith Hubsch, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Snowy Egret, Egretta thula, is one of two subspecies of Snowy Egret, both of which are found in Mexico. They are a member of the Ardeidae Family of Herons, Egrets and Bitterns, which has sixty-eight members placed in eighteen genera, and one of twelve global species of the Egretta Genus. They are known in Mexico as garceta nívera. They are one of North America’s most familiar herons known for their beautiful breeding plumage.

The Snowy Egret is medium sized of delicate build with the males being slightly larger than tohe females. The sexes are similar in appearance. They are very conspicuous due to their entirely all white plumage. They have a long slender back, bright yellow lores, long slender black legs and bright yellow feet. Their bill is jet black with the lower mandible being yellow, their lores and narrow eye-ring are yellow, their iris is yellowish, their legs are jet black, and their feet are golden yellow. During breeding their plumage long, delicate plumes forming wispy spray of feathers extending off the breast, a short shaggy crest off the nape, and reddish and orangish feet.

The Snowy Egret found predominantly in coastal mangroves, mudflats, and swamps and less commonly inland in freshwater swamps, marshes, ponds, and along large rivers at elevations below 1,280 m (4,200 feet). They are known for their active, frantic foraging behavior utilized to capture a wide range of prey including crabs, crayfish, other crustaceans, fish, frogs, aquatic and terrestrial insects, lizards, snails, snakes and worms as solitary individuals to mixed-species aggregations. They are known for their spectacular mating displays with breeding occurring in in mixed-species colonies where the Snowy Egret is often one of the most abundant species. Island nest sites are preferred because they are less vulnerable to predators.

The Snowy Egret is found throughout Mexico with year-round populations found along the coastal regions and are migratory inland. The brewsteri subspecies is found in Baja California. The thula subspecies is found throughout all of Mexico except Baja California.

The Snowy Egret can be confused with the immature Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea (grayish to blue-gray lores, dark feet).

From a conservation perspective the Snowy Egret is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are one of the few waterbirds that are comfortable to human disturbance. Historically they were heavily hunted for their delicate, recurved back plumes, used to adorn women’s hats. Subsequently they have been the subject of major conservation efforts. Their long-term survival is threatened by human habitat developments that have removed large quantities of coastal wetlands that have reduced prey density and availability. They are also threatened by the presence of pesticides and herbicides within their aquatic environments. Their populations in the late twentieth century have been in serious decline.