The goose/angler interaction made me laugh, and somehow motivated me to think about the Snowy Egret. Possibilities come to mind: (1) all snowy egrets have this breeding plumage briefly, and I've never noticed it before; (2) somehow just the feathers at the back of the head were stained when the bird was foraging in dark-colored water; (3) a genetic anomaly in this particular bird that affects just the feathers on the back of the head; (4) hybridization with Cattle Egret (I don't even know if that's possible); (5) disease affecting the feathers at that location; (6) insects / mites / parasites affecting the feathers at that location; (7) the bird perched with the back of it's head subject to an exhaust fan from an industrial facility that expels a dark contaminate (I saw a pink-colored Rock Pigeon once, and a half hour later, saw it's roost at a fiberglass batt manufacturing plant); (8) evolution in action; the bird in the photograph will be more successful than it's peers; (9) something else.
eBird has about 150,000 photos of Snowy Egret; I didn't go through all of them, but here are some interesting photos: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/543479121 https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/391235451 (what's going on with this bird?) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/483064311 https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/75611831 (this might just be lighting) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/353345441 (how staining at the back of the head might occur) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/359495781 (maybe lighting again) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/33365841 (lighting ?) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/466387331 https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/319186461 https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/338686541 https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/480235771 (that was just for fun...) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/359495781 https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/96980911 (this last photo makes me think: option 10: straw colored plumage at Snowy Egret back-of-head is variable) Thanks for a great post, Ted Floyd, and motivating me to learn stuff! On Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 7:41:37 PM UTC-6 Ted Floyd wrote: > Hey, all. > > With a group from the Univ. of Denver, I saw a curious *snowy egret* at > Lake Ladora, upper (north) end, Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife > Refuge, Adams Co., earlier this sunny and warm Sat., Apr. 29. Basically, it > was doing the cattle egret thing, with creamsicle orange highlights in the > plumage. Got pics from multiple angles, so I'm sure it wasn't just a trick > of light. Anyhow, this bird: > > [image: SnEg 01.jpg] > > I can't recall ever having seen a snowy egret thus attired. > > We saw a pair of most excellent *long-billed curlews* walking around and > mostly standing about plausible-looking nesting microhabitat beyond the > bison perimeter at the Big Bluestem exclosure. Happily, the birds were on > the other side of the big fence, so human disturbance won't be a factor, > should the birds elect to raise a family there. Wouldn't that be something! > Here's one of the birds: > > [image: LBCu 01.jpg] > > *Willets* everywhere. At least 32 at Havana Ponds, and probably more than > that. Most of them were pill-will-willet'ing, but this one was mum: > > [image: Will 03jpg.JPG] > > We saw an *eastern bluebird* at the terminus of the trail that comes in > from the east to Upper Derby. Fuzzy and heat-shimmered, but I don't think > I've ever seen a bluebird at The arsenal except fall–winter, so we were > pleased with the find. Maybe prospecting for a nest site?— > > [image: EaBl 01.jpg] > > Nice day out there. Practically zilch on the migratory front. The weather > was just too nice. But a delectably eclectic assortment of such goodies as > *wood > duck, burrowing owl, rock wren, Townsend solitaire, great-tailed > grackle*...no > rhyme or reason at all, just fun birds. 8 or 9 species of shorebirds; > decent numbers of *western, eared,* and *horned grebes* all together on > Ladora; shockingly few warblers (3 *yellow-rumps* and nothing else); a > *Lincoln > sparrow* here, a *Brewer sparrow* there, and both black-lored and > white-lored *white-crowned sparrows.* > > Looks like we came up with 76 bird species for the outing. Tiger beetles > included green claybank and oblique-lined. Several brilliant coyotes. Also: > illogical trail closures; a motorcycle race on the auto loop; and a Canada > goose fighting with and vanquishing a fisherman. What that goose did to the > fisherman looked painful. Use your imagination. But COBirds is > family-friendly, and I shall say nothing more of the matter. > > Ted Floyd > Lafayette, Boulder Co. > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/bbca0241-e141-427b-a16f-0bc32231d88en%40googlegroups.com.
