This bird is not squat enough to be a cattle egret. Its neck is too long and straight. It appears to be not large enough, nor its neck so long as the Great Egret. Its beak is light-colored, so it is not a snowy egret, whose beak is black. The Little Blue Heron has a juvenile stage which is white, and I think that is what this is.

"The immature little blue heron causes the most confusion in identification, for it is entirely white. In size and color, it resembles a snowy egret, but it has a thicker two-toned grayish bill and greenish legs and feet ... Not until the spring after its hatching year does the little blue heron begin to acquire dark adult plumage ... Nesting in the eastern half of Texas, it wanders in late summer to other sections of the state."

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Back to Snowy Egret.

Photo taken with a Nikon D80 with a Nikon 400mm f/5.6.

July 19, 2008.