Feathered Elegance

     Great egrets are white-plumaged elegance, whether in the air, in shallow water or on the ground.  They are members of the world-wide and large heron family of birds.  They mostly breed in wetlands in the Mississippi River States, the Atlantic and Gulf States of the United States, and on islands in the Caribbean.  They winter in marshes in the southern states and through Central America and much of South America.
     Great egrets are about three and a half feet long, have long, black legs, black feet and lengthy, yellow beaks.  During the breeding season, the bare skin of their faces is green and they have long, fancy feathers growing from their backs to signal their readiness for raising young. 
     Great egrets and other kinds of large, wading birds were once killed by the thousands during the annual breeding season in the southern United States to get nuptial feathers to decorate ladies' hats.  However, the National Audubon Society ended that hunting in the early 1900's.  And because of that protection from shooting, great egrets and other species of big, beautiful birds have made a comeback in numbers in America.     
     Several great egrets make their way into southeastern Pennsylvania from spring into fall every year.  There is a small nesting colony of them on a wooded island in the Susquehanna River, but most great egrets here are post-breeders and their young looking for new fishing territories.  And most of them are here from late July until the end of October when they drift south again to find bodies of water that won't freeze in winter so they can catch aquatic prey. 
     When flying, great egrets have a slow, powerful wing beat, with their legs extending behind them for balance and their necks curled into a tight S shape.  When approaching their destination, they glide and circle gracefully down on large wings and brake their descent by "back-paddling" their wings and extending their legs to the water.       
     They are in a pond, marsh or slow-moving waterway to catch tadpoles, frogs, small fish, insects and other water creatures.  Several of them in a pond together are a beautiful, intriguing sight, one we don't see everyday here in Pennsylvania.  Each egret stands majestically erect in the water with its neck in an S shape or extended close to the water to watch for victims.  Or the bird stalks slowly, elegantly, through the water, step by careful step, all the while looking for unsuspecting prey.  Then, with lightning speed, it thrusts out its neck, head and bill together to seize a hapless critter, and, if successful, gulps it down whole and head-first and watches for another victim.
     The graceful great egrets also stalk prey in marshes and wet meadows near bodies of water.  There they catch mostly mice and larger insects.  The egrets step slowly, magnificently through the grass and inch-deep water as they do in ponds.  When a mouse is caught, the egret dunks it in water to slick its fur so the large bird can more easily swallow its food.  An egret swallowing a mouse is an amusing sight.   
     Great egrets often roost in groups in trees where they are safer from land predators.  There they perch, hunched up, through each night.  Egrets in the north abandon their roosts sometime in autumn for those in the South.
     Look for great egrets.  They are the height of elegance.