paradiddle Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 We saw this egret in Craven County, NC. Which specific egret it is would be my question. It was in a quarried area that is now filling with shallow water and growing wetland plants. Obviously it's either a great egret or snowy egret. It appears to be perhaps immature. We saw a white, juvenile little blue heron nearby. There were 2 of the birds standing on a rock pile. Thank you much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seanbirds Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 Looks like juvenile Snowy Egrets to me. Welcome to Whatbird! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiscalus quiscula Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 (edited) Looks like Snowy Egret to me. Great egret has proportionally a much longer neck and lacks obvious yellow lores. Edit- Sniped! We posted at the same time again! Edited August 11, 2021 by Quiscalus quiscula 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan B Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 (edited) Pretty sure these are Cattle Egrets Edit: maybe not Edited August 11, 2021 by Aidan B 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiscalus quiscula Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 1 minute ago, Aidan B said: Pretty sure these are Cattle Egrets Edit: maybe not My first impression as well, probably caused by the coiled neck. But Cattle Egrets would usually have a yellow bill, I believe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan B Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 2 minutes ago, Quiscalus quiscula said: My first impression as well, probably caused by the coiled neck. But Cattle Egrets would usually have a yellow bill, I believe. I didn't realize that Snowy Egret could have yellow legs when young, which really threw me off track when added to the way the egrets were standing. Guess I've learned something new! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paradiddle Posted August 11, 2021 Author Share Posted August 11, 2021 Okay. Thanks for the assist. Always nice to accurately name birds for ebird listings. Yes, the yellow legs did perplex me. Snowy egret - juvenile 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avery Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 24 minutes ago, Aidan B said: I didn't realize that Snowy Egret could have yellow legs when young, which really threw me off track when added to the way the egrets were standing. Guess I've learned something new! For some reason I had ingrained in my mind that Great Egrets always had yellow legs 🙄. I was very confused when I was looking for young birds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 46 minutes ago, Aidan B said: I didn't realize that Snowy Egret could have yellow legs when young, which really threw me off track ... Ditto 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexHenry Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 1 hour ago, Aidan B said: I didn't realize that Snowy Egret could have yellow legs when young, which really threw me off track when added to the way the egrets were standing. Guess I've learned something new! Leg, bill, and lore color is very variable on juvenile Snowy Egrets. Some Snowy Egret juveniles can look almost exactly like juvenile Little Blue Herons (except lacking dark primary tips) and some can look a lot like Cattle Egrets. Here’s an example of a juvenile Snowy Egret with leg color more like a juvenile Little Blue. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Friedman Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 I have trouble when they're so young they don't have yellow lores yet. This was July 30, 2014. As I recall, people here convinced me that it wasn't a Little Blue. (Caution: bad pictures ahead.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexHenry Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 1 hour ago, Jerry Friedman said: I have trouble when they're so young they don't have yellow lores yet. This was July 30, 2014. As I recall, people here convinced me that it wasn't a Little Blue. (Caution: bad pictures ahead.) I’m not sure about that one, the bill and lores look a lot like a Little Blue, but I don’t see dark primary tips (the wing is folded though so that would be difficult to see). It very well could be a Snowy and probably is one but I’m not certain 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird-Boys Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Little Blue. Not all show dark primary tips. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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