- Egretta thula
Description
Shown in Breeding plumage: Shot at San Diego, California
Identification
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Destribution and Taxonomy
Breeds in North America on the east coast from Long Island south to Florida, on the Gulf Coast and inland in the lower Mississippi Valley, on the southern California coast and also in scattered inland areas mainly from the Central Valley of California east to Colorado. To the south breeds on both Mexican coasts and over much of Central America and in South America south to Valdivia in Chile in the west and Buenos Aires, Argentina in the east.
Northernmost and inland populations are migratory and move southwards, coastal birds are more sedentary but post-breeding dispersal takes some birds north to southern Canada.
In the Western Palearctic recorded three times in or near Iceland, and five have been seen in the Azores. The first, and so far only, British record was of an immature on Seil Island in Argyll, Scotland in October 2001 and still present in the general area in June 2002. After a brief disappearance it turned up again on the Solway Firth in September 2002.
Subspecies: Slightly larger western USA birds are sometimes separated as brewsteri.
HABITAT
Lakeshores and riverbanks, mangroves, shallow lagoons and on tidal mudflats and estuaries, sometimes on grasslands.
