A smaller white heron that inhabits much of the lower two-thirds of the United States. Mostly migratory to the coastal states and to Mexico. Our only record likely of a migrant that flew north instead of south.
Similar species:
An active heron much smaller than the Great Egret which is the most likely white heron we’ll see in our area. Snowy Egrets have mostly black bills and mostly yellow legs while the Great Egret is the opposite with yellow bill and black legs. Juvenile Little Blue Herons are quite similar because they are white. Small details such as dark wing tips on a Little Blue Heron are different. Cattle Egrets, encountered several times in the checklist area over the years are small, short legged and encounted in fields away from water.
Sources:
Ehrlich, Dobkin and Wheye, (1988)
Noteworthy Data
Date | Location | Source(s) | Comments |
| 06-November-1994 | Chehalis Flats, Harrison Mills | M. Toochin, 1994 | Seen for at least two days afterward the initial sighting. Possibly the same bird seen in October in Chilliwack. Distance between locations about 9 km. |
| 16-October-1994 | Barritt Road, Chilliwack | L. Smedly, D. Knopp, 1994 | Seen in the south arm of the Hope River Slough. Recorded also on October 17, 1994. |