en/sustainability/biodiversity/animals/birds/snowy-egret/547

Biodiversity

< Back

Snowy Egret
Egretta thula | Molina, 1782

PHOTO: Property of Native / Embrapa

Characterization: Large species measuring about 54cm in length. It is totally white with a black beak and legs and yellow loro, iris, and fingers.

Distribution: Most of South America and throughout Brazil and, also, in the south to southwestern United States and the West Indies.

Habitat: Freshwater or brackish and even on the beach, where it captures prey that the sea takes to the sand.

Habits: Daytime and aquatic species.

Diet: Carnivorous, this bird feeds on fish, aquatic insects (imagos and larvae), crabs, mollusks, amphibians, and reptiles. Sometimes it feeds on snakes and guinea pigs.

Breeding: This bird lays 1-2 eggs in a nest built on trees or shrubs in the swamps. It usually associates in mixed colonies, and procreation usually comes at the beginning or end of the dry season, when food for waterfowl is usually more plentiful.

In the UFRA area: In the studies carried out in the San Francisco Sugarmill areas, this bird had a medium spatial distribution, being found in wetlands with riparian forests, in native forests, and in drainage ditches. It is considered little frequent, as it was spotted only 6 times.