What Is This Bird?

i'd say its an egret, hard to tell by scale. the tail is a bit truncated though.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Looks like an egret to me.

It is a white morph Reddish Egret. But it is a young bird and is not showing the pink that will be at the base of the bill when it is a breeding adult. Nice find and nice capture!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddish_egret

If the feet are orange/yellow and legs black its a little egret or snowy egret

Thanks Mike, Darice and Bradford. Wow, that is not a common bird way over here. Hopefully he or she will stay long enough to get those spectacular colors to paint! I managed to get a great one of it with its wings outstretched. Probably my next painting.

Heather, thanks but not a snowy. I have pictures of its feet out of the water and they are solid black, no yellow anywhere.

This is Little Egret, Phyllis, 100 % :)) My house in Regional park and I know this beautiful bird.

to be clear a white morph will always be white. But the bill color will eventually be pink with a black tip.

The term "egret" or "heron" does not define a species. All egrets are types of herons and the term 'egret" does not even mean it is a subgroup of heron or even that it is white.

Of the large white herons (and egrets) the most common is the great egret. It has a yellow bill and black legs.
Rarer is the White morph reddish egret as shown. Dark legs and feet and a black or black tipped bill.
The white morph Great Blue Heron breeds mainly in the Florida keys but can show up anywhere. This is also called a "Great White Heron" The bill is yellowish and the legs yellow or fleshy colored. Not black. It also has a head crest like other Great blues.

A smaller white heron (egret) could be a snowy egret, a cattle egret or an immature little blue heron. Similar species of herons are found throughout the world and all can show up anywhere.

A "little egret" is a European species similar to the snowy egret in plumage and bill and leg color. It has yellow eyes.

You have taught me something Bradford. I thought that they were only white for a season. I suppose I will have to keep looking for that colorful one!

You keep looking for the colorful reddish egret morph and I will keep looking for a white morph.



They like to chase schools of baitfish in shallow flats. They often use there wings to herd them.

from WIKI - I looked it up to make sure I remembered what I had 'known' about egret's: The word "egret" comes from the French word "aigrette" that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the long filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season. In the early 1900's they, those infamous "they" folks (so it wasn't me nor you - but feather/plume hunters) nearly wiped them out in Florida - so ladies could wear them on their hats - the feathers/aigrettes.

The "great white heron" which breeds in Florida Bay and those parts - has the same build/size and feathering - even to the 'tabs' on it's head in season - as the Great Blue - it does not have the Aigrettes in breeding season - like the Egrets.

What a fantastic creature Bradford. @Roy, I saw a movie about that, pitiful just for a hat! Thank God they survived.

Here's an egret with "aigrettes"
While clearly the term egret was a name given to herons with the long "aigrettes", popular for hats, herons were also hunted for the head plume feathers. The term egret now does little to distinguish or categorize a heron and not all egrets have "aigrettes"