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Egretta thula (Snowy egret)
Sneeuwitreier [Afrikaans]; Amerikaanse kleine zilverreiger
[Dutch]; Aigrette neigeuse [French]; Schmuckreiher [German]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Ciconiiformes
> Family: Ardeidae
Distribution and habitat
Occurs in the Americas and West Indies, dispersing widely
after breeding, as there is a single record of a juvenile which stayed at
Sandvlei, Cape Peninsula, South Africa in April 2002. It generally favours
lakes, marshes, ponds, shallow lagoons, mangroves and mudflats, rarely in
dryland meadows.
Food
It mainly eats fish, crustaceans and aquatic insects, doing
most of its foraging buy stirring its foot in shallow water to flush prey.
Threats
Not threatened.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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