Snowy Egret by David Whited

Snowy Egret

David Whited

Snowy Egret

Digital photography

Inv: MM-1577

The Snowy Egret (*Egretta thula*) is a slender, all-white heron easily identified by its slim black bill, black legs contrasting with bright yellow feet (often called "golden slippers"), and a patch of yellow skin at the base of the bill, along with delicate, wispy plumes on its head, neck, and back during breeding season; found throughout wetlands, marshes, mudflats, and shorelines across the Americas, it employs an active, energetic foraging style—running, stirring the water with its feet, and even hopping—to flush and snatch small fish, crustaceans, insects, and amphibians, and nests colonially, often alongside other wading bird species, in trees and shrubs near water.