Snowy Egret’s Fishing Feet

Snowy egret in Celebration, Florida (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

7 March 2022

How do you identify a snowy egret among the six white wading birds in North America?

Snowy egrets are the only one of the group whose feet don’t match their legs. Yellow Feet + Black Legs. You can see it even in flight.

Snowy egrets in flight (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The color combination helps them forage. While their black legs are probably ignored by their prey, the “yellow feet catch the eye of fish and other creatures, drawing them closer or stalling them so the egret can strike,” per Bird Watcher’s Digest.

Here are three of the snowy egret’s five foot-fishing techniques.

Foot stirring:

Foot probing: in slow motion.

Foot dragging: Dangling their feet in the water to make the fish rise up from the depths.

Snowy egrets have 21 techniques for catching fish, the broadest repertoire of all North American herons. They have a lot of tricks up their sleeves.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)

One thought on “Snowy Egret’s Fishing Feet

  1. I have seen many of these birds while vacationing in Orlando. One day while visiting Sea World and dining outdoors I saw one snatch someone’s lunch when they were looking the other way. Very brazen and not afraid of humans.

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