Snowy Egret Roosting In Mangrove Tree Stock Image

A snowy egret roosting for the night in a mangrove tree. The snowy egret Egret thulais a small white heron. The genus name comes from the Provençal French for the little egret aigrette, a diminutive of aigron, `heron`. The species name thula is the Araucano for the Black-necked Swan, applied to this species in error by Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782. The snowy egret is a small heron, about two feet in length with a wingspan of about three feet. It has white feathers, a yellow patch of skin around its eyes, a black bill, and black legs with bright yellow feet. In breeding season, it has lacy plumes on its head, neck, and back and it yellow feet and the the yellow around its bill turns a bit red. Males and females look alike, but males are slightly larger.