The Story
I photographed this Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) at the Raudal del Guayabero, near San José del Guaviare, Guaviare, Colombia, in February 2021. At one time its plumes were in great demand for women’s hats, and hunting for them brought the species to dangerously low numbers. It is 56 to 66 centimeters long with a wingspan of about 100 centimeters. It breeds in mixed colonies that may include Great Egrets and night herons, and immature birds have duller, greenish legs. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/6000 sec, f/16, ISO 1250, −3 EV. The Raudal del Guayabero is a narrows where the Guayabero River runs between the Serranía de La Lindosa and the Serranía de la Macarena, about 38 kilometers by fast boat from San José del Guaviare.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) belongs to the family Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List