Snowy Egret

Fishing is not one of the recreational activities allowed at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge but apparently no one has passed that information on to the local bird population. Click on photos for full sized images.

Snowy Egret

This Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) is often found on the six mile auto tour route at the bottom of a dam where water flows into the adjacent irrigation canal.

Snowy Egret

According to Birds of North America Online, the Snowy Egret has the “broadest feeding behavioral repertoire (21 of 34 described behaviors) of all North American herons.

Snowy Egret

Behaviors include standing, bill-vibrating (tongue-flicking), head-swaying, pecking, walking slowly, walking quickly, running, hopping, leapfrog feeding, wing-flicking, openwing-feeding, underwing-feeding, foot-stirring, foot-raking, foot probing, foot paddling, hovering, hover-stirring, dipping, disturb and chase, and foot-dragging.

Snowy Egret

Their effectiveness may be enhanced owing to greater visual acuity than most other wading birds.”

Snowy Egret

This golden-footed wonder caught several fish in the short time I observed it…

Snowy Egret

Although the bird moved so fast it was nearly impossible to get a shot of it with a fish in its beak.

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

This is a shot of the egret right after swallowing the fish.

Snowy Egret

Ready for another!

Snowy Egret

Luckily for me, I caught this experienced fisher on video catching a fish. Even then I had to slow it down to actually see the catch.

Written by Larry
Larry Jordan was introduced to birding after moving to northern California where he was overwhelmed by the local wildlife, forcing him to buy his first field guide just to be able to identify all the species visiting his yard. Building birdhouses and putting up feeders brought the avian fauna even closer and he was hooked. Larry wanted to share his passion for birds and conservation and hatched The Birder's Report in September of 2007. His recent focus is on bringing the Western Burrowing Owl back to life in California where he also monitors several bluebird trails. He is a BirdLife Species Champion and contributes to several other conservation efforts, being the webmaster for Wintu Audubon Society and the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Urban Bird Foundation. He is now co-founder of a movement to create a new revenue stream for our National Wildlife Refuges with a Wildlife Conservation Pass.