Medium-sized, slender white egret. Pale iris. Alternate Adult: all white plumage decorated in plumes. Red lores. Thin black bill. Dark legs with orange-red feet. Basic Adult: similar to breeding, but bright yellow lores and feet. Shorter plumes. Juvenile: white plumage. Thin bill, pale gray at base. Greenish lores, occasionally grayish. Yellow-green legs with black stripe and yellow-green feet. Very similar to Little Egret, which has pointy crown, thicker longer bill and paler lores. Breeding Little Egret has only 2 or 3 occipital plumes. Snowy Egret also similar to juvenile Little Blue Heron, which has dark (but difficult to see) wingtips, a thicker bill and usually paler lores.

Length: 24 (cm) Wingspan: 38 (cm)

Voice:

Raspy. Ahh-rarrrr. Nasal squawk. Low pitched croak. Bubbly lulla lulla lulla.

Habitat:

Fresh and saltwater marshes or shallow bodies of water. Shorelines and mudflats. Bays and tidal flats.

Behavior:

Forages by stalking or standing still in water, then grabbing prey. Nests in colonies. Typically graceful in its movements, but occasionally darts about in a somewhat hyperactive manner.

Feeding:

Diet consists of fish, amphibians, crustaceans, mollusks, lizards, earthworms and aquatic plant material.