White Wader Identifications

I recently posted some Identification quizes about white Waders (I called them shorebirds) on BirdersWorld  forum and thought that I would put the compilation on my blog.  All of these pictures are mine unless I can find a picture that I can use of a White morph Great Blue Heron.

SNOWY EGRET

The key identifiers for the Snowy Egret here are the golden slippers and the yellow lores on a white bird.  There is a bird called a Little Egret that also has these characters but it is from Europe and so is rare and also the lores are not quite as extensively marked yellow (I say this without ever having seen anything but what Sibley tells us).  The yellow feet are the immediate identifiers for me if I see them, but you should be able to ID them just from the size and face.  BTW it is a fairly small bird. especially compared to the Great Egret, but similar in size to the Little Blue Heron and larger than the cattle Egret.

Length 24"

GREAT EGRET

The NARROW all yellow bill of a Large white Heron/Egret with black legs differentiates this bird as a Great Egret. 

Length 39"

Cattle Egret

Smallest White heron, relatively stocky, short legs, short bill

Length 20"

Little Blue Heron Juvenile

Small White heron with blue bill and blue legs.  May be pied which is easier to ID

Length 24"

Reddish Egret White Morph Breeding Plumage

Bi-colored bill with pink base, grey legs (They look black to me), smaller than Great Egret and larger than Snowy.

Length 30"

Reddish Egret White Morph Juvie

This is another Reddish Egret.  It is a first year White Morph.  It will not become reddish in color as an adult but will stay white.  The ID is made by the grey (black)  legs and black bill and lores.  It is similar in size to the adult. 

Length 30"

White Ibis Adult

White medium sized wader with Black wing tips and pink legs and pink curved bill.  Juvies are brown and white. 

24" length

Great Blue Heron White Morph

Here are some nice pictures of the rare White morph of the Great Blue Heron I tried to get the photographer to allow me to post it here, but I never got a response.  I hope to add it later.

Common in a limited range of the Florida Keys where the White morph outnumbers the darker morph.  Larger than the Great Egret with a heavier bill and grey/yellow legs

Length 46"

12:49 AM - October 20, 2009 - post comment