Snowy Egret
- Family
- Ardeidae
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Least Concern 4
Where and when to see the Snowy Egret
DraftOn the Yucatán Peninsula
It feeds in shallow water almost anywhere: mangroves, coastal lagoons, mudflats, marshes and flooded fields. Watch for a small white egret dashing about, then check the feet.
Where it’s reported most
- CelestúnCelestún, Yucatán
- El Corchito ReserveProgreso, Yucatán
- San GervasioCozumel, Quintana Roo
- Kabah Ecological ParkBenito Juárez, Quintana Roo
When
All year
Reported all year.
Reports relative to effort
- January: 74%
- February: 63%
- March: 57%
- April: 59%
- May: 63%
- June: 62%
- July: 72%
- August: 82%
- September: 100%
- October: 100%
- November: 96%
- December: 82%
Data: eBird and other datasets via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), 2015–2026 · Base map: Natural Earth
Hunts in shallow lagoons, mangrove edges and flooded flats, stirring the bottom with its yellow feet to flush small fish. Common along the Quintana Roo coast.
- Identification
- A slender, medium-sized white egret with a thin black bill, yellow skin in front of the eye, black legs and bright yellow feet. In breeding season it grows wispy plumes on the head, neck and back, its feet turn orange-yellow and its face reddish.
- Voice
- Mostly silent away from colonies; a harsh squawk.
What the photo doesn’t show
DraftGolden slippers
Its bright yellow feet, the “golden slippers” behind its Mexican name, seem to help it hunt: it shuffles them in the mud to flush small fish and shrimp. 1,2
Many ways to fish
It uses more hunting methods than any other heron: it runs, stirs, hovers, skims the water in flight and follows cattle for insects. Other waders often gather around it to feed. 2,3
From Colorado to Mexico
The oldest Snowy Egret on record was at least 17 years and 7 months old. It was banded in Colorado in 1970 and found in Mexico in 1988. 1
Worth more than gold
In 1886 its breeding plumes sold for US$32 an ounce, twice the price of gold. Public outrage at the slaughter helped win the laws that protected it, and the species has since recovered. 1,3
Sources
- All About Birds (Cornell Lab): Snowy Egret (opens in a new tab)
- Audubon Guide to North American Birds: Snowy Egret (opens in a new tab)
- Birds of the World (Cornell Lab): Snowy Egret (opens in a new tab)
- IUCN Red List category, via GBIF: Egretta thula (opens in a new tab)
Map and months: 16,501 records from 2015–2026 from eBird, iNaturalist, and others, via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), in 0.1° squares (about 10 km). eBird: doi.org/10.15468/aomfnb.
Months: the species’ records ÷ all bird records that month, scaled to the busiest month. It allows for birding effort; it is not the chance of seeing it. A blank square: few or no reports, not necessarily absent.
Tell us where, or ask how to find one.
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