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 cobirds@googlegroups.com 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 cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/bbca0241-e141-427b-a16f-0bc32231d88en%40googlegroups.com.
