Another Egret

The yellow feet and curly tail are dead give aways. Yes, this is a snowy egret (Egretta thula) and one of the medium sized members of the Egret family. These birds spend their lives in South America and come into our area during summer breeding season. I took these pictures on Lake Millwood during March. This bird was sharing the small bay with a Great Egret and an alligator.

"Comeback kid"

The symbol of the Audubon Society of which I am a proud member, the Great Egret (Ardea alba) was nearly wipped out in the United States during the 1800's and early 1900's. Populations declined as much as 95% as these birds were hunted down for their feathers. With the help of such conservation organizations as the Audubon Society, the Great Egret is doing well today. Like its cousin the Cattle Egret, the Great Egret is a very cosmopolitan bird with populations in both the New and Old World. It is the largest New World Egret and can live to be over 20 years old. The only threat to these birds today is the constant destruction of wetlands, which is a big problem for so many birds today. Why is it that mankind insists on building on the shores of the ocean or other bodies of water? Such practices destroy land vital to so many plants and animals and when flood or storms come (as they always do) we all get to pay the price for these foolish building practices in the form of higher insurance premiums. And what about all those tax dollars going into maintaining levies and dikes? I am sorry citizens of New Orleans, but to live in a city that is below sea level is foolish and the tax dollars to try to keep such a city dry could be spent more wisely addressing issues that have solutions.

Cosmopolitan Bird

The Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a very successful bird; it has undergone the most widespread and fastest range expansions of any bird in modern times. Originating in Southern Spain and Portugal, the Cattle Egret was not reported in the western hemisphere (S. America) until the 1930's and was not reported in North America (S. Florida) until 1941. The first record of Cattle Egrets in Arkansas was in 1962 from SW Arkansas. In less than 75 years the Cattle Egret has spread as far west as California and as far north as Canada and now outnumbers the combined populations of all other egrets and herons found in North America. These birds have also expanded their range across Europe, most recently breeding in Great Britain in 2008. Australia was colonized as early as the 1940's and from there this bird worked its way to New Zealand and other south Pacific island chains. In fact, this bird has been reported from every continent on earth except Antarctica.

Cattle Egrets are the only Egrets that are completely terrestrial; they do not need (but can use) an aquatic environment to survive. Cattle Egrets nest is large colonies with other wading birds. Pairs sometimes reuse old nests, or build new ones with live or dead vegetation. They will build in any place that can support a nest. The Cattle Egret is very gregarious and can be easily identified by its tendency to associate closely with grazing cattle. The Cattle Egret's major prey is active insects which are disturbed by the grazing cattle. It eats mostly grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, flies, and frogs. I have two other Egrets I will be featuring in later blogs. I hope I didn't freak out the owners of these cattle when I stopped on the roadside in New DeRoche to get these pics.