Snowy Egret

The snowy egret is a small white heron native to the Americas, found from the southern United States through Central America, the Caribbean and much of South America. It is recognized by its slender black bill, black legs and bright yellow feet, sometimes called golden slippers. During the breeding season it grows delicate, recurved plumes on its back, neck and head, plumes that were hunted nearly to the point of collapsing the species in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for the millinery trade before protective laws were enacted. It feeds in shallow water, often stirring the bottom with its feet to flush small fish, crustaceans and insects into view.