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D & D Wildlife Photography
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The Snowy Egret is a medium-sized long-legged wading bird, usually holding its neck in an "S" curve in flight. The plumage is entirely white. Adults have black bills and yellow facial skin, black legs with yellow feet and shaggy plumes on head, neck, and back in alternate plumage. Immature Snowy Egrets have legs that are black in front and yellow in back.They often feed in flocks and in aggregation with other species, using their feet to rake, probe, or stir food from the bottom. Main foods are fish, crabs, amphibians, snakes, and insects.
Snowy egrets breed once a year, and females lay three to five greenish blue eggs that hatch in three to four weeks. Their platform-like nests are built primarily of twigs and are located in trees five to ten feet above the ground, occasionally on the ground.
Length: 24 inches
Wingspan: 38 inches
Habitat: Coastal areas, marshes, river valleys, lake edges.
Voice: In breeding colonies, "wah wah wah"; during agression a harsh "aah".
Other Behavior: Aggressively defends nest and feeding sites with calls, displays such as raising crest, and fights. Communal nighttime roosts outside breeding season.
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