ANIMALS - BIRDS - SEABIRDS - SNOWY EGRET (EGRETTA THULA)

Animals - Birds - Seabirds

Snowy egret (Egretta thula)

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Subclass : Neornithes
Infraclass : Neognathae
Superorder : Neoaves
Order : Pelecaniformes
Family : Ardeidae
Genus : Egretta
Species : E. Thula

Description:

The Snowy egret (Egretta thula) is a small white heron. It is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World little egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas. At one time, the beautiful plumes of the snowy egret were in great demand by market hunters as decorations for women's hats. This reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels.[citation needed] Now protected in the United States by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this bird's population has rebounded.

Adults are typically 61 cm (24 in) long and weigh 375 g (0.827 lb) They have a slim black bill and long black legs with yellow feet. The area of the upper bill, in front of the eyes, is yellow but turns red during the breeding season, when the adults also gain recurved plumes on the back, making for a "shaggy" effect. The juvenile looks similar to the adult, but the base of the bill is paler, and a green or yellow line runs down the back of the legs.

Snowy Egrets nest in colonies on thick vegetation in isolated places—such as barrier islands, dredge-spoil islands, salt marsh islands, swamps, and marshes. They often change location from year to year. During the breeding season Snowy Egrets feed in estuaries, saltmarshes, tidal channels, shallow bays, and mangroves. They winter in mangroves, saltwater lagoons, freshwater swamps, grassy ponds, and temporary pools, and forage on beaches, shallow reefs, and wet fields.

Binomial Name:

Name : Egretta thula
Taxonomist : Juan Ignacio Molina (Guaraculén, Chile)
Year : 1782
Subspecies : 2 (Thula, Brewsteri)
Synonyms : Ardea thula, Egretta candidissima, Ardea candidissima

Conservation Status by IUCN:

Status : Least Concern

Has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as evaluated but not qualified for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (prior to 2001) conservation dependent.

Philatelic Issues

2015 - Uruguay - Stamp 4 of 8, from Wetland Animals Series

Issue information:

Country: Uruguay
Date: September 30th, 2015
Printed: 10.000 copies
Type : Stamp from Series of 8 Stamps
Value : UYP 15

Stamp : Rectangular
Size: 39 mm. x 27 mm.
Perforation: Circular
Gum: Water Activated