Snowy egrets are undeniably beautiful birds. Typically when I’ve encountered them they were along the shore or wading in the water hunting for fish. On my last trip to Florida, I saw that they don’t always do the fishing for themselves…
My brother Ted and I were photographing a ton of birds in a pond at Little Estero Lagoon in Fort Myers. The birds, including several White Ibis and Snowy Egrets, were dining on fish trapped by the tide. The ibis were dutifully catching their breakfast, but the second they nabbed a fish, a nearby Snowy Egret would excitedly run up and try to steal it. Even though the industrious White Ibis were a bit bigger, the Snowy Egrets often were fast enough to steal the food. Occasionally a few “snowies” would team up on the ibis to push the odds further in their favor. Not the nicest behavior, but exciting to watch.
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