Gary Helm
Catfish For Breakfast
Great Egrets develop fancy plumes when they are in breeding plumage and seem to be quite famous for that but their lores also change color from yellow to a lime green and the top mandible turning very dark. With the lores being so colorful during courtship the eyes seem to look even paler than normal.
Fish are a dietary staple, but great egrets use similar techniques to eat amphibians, reptiles, mice, and other small animals. These birds nest in trees, near water and gather in groups called colonies, which may include other heron or egret species.
I found this one in the early stages of changing to the breeding colors and plumage along Joe Overstreet Road as it was catching a Catfish for breakfast.
Catfish For Breakfast
Great Egrets develop fancy plumes when they are in breeding plumage and seem to be quite famous for that but their lores also change color from yellow to a lime green and the top mandible turning very dark. With the lores being so colorful during courtship the eyes seem to look even paler than normal.
Fish are a dietary staple, but great egrets use similar techniques to eat amphibians, reptiles, mice, and other small animals. These birds nest in trees, near water and gather in groups called colonies, which may include other heron or egret species.
I found this one in the early stages of changing to the breeding colors and plumage along Joe Overstreet Road as it was catching a Catfish for breakfast.