I bet this is a juvenile/immature bird. The legs are dull yellowish above the knee; other than that, it looks like a Great Egret.

Barry Ulman
Bellingham, WA.


On Jan 17, 2011, at 7:20 AM, John Riegsecker wrote:

>
>
>> Hi Tweeters
>> Marian Bailey, Wildlife Biologist at Nisqually NWR, asked me if Great Egrets
>> have yellow on their legs. Guide books all describe the legs as black. Does
>> anyone know? Photos of the bird that is wintering at Nisqually show some
>> yellow on the leg. They have been black enough for me and the bird is large enough
>> for all of us to call it a Great Egret. It is the first one on record to winter
>> over. All past reports have a single bird showing up in the Fall and hanging
>> around for several weeks.
>>
>> Having just returned from Africa where we saw lots of egrets,
>> Intermediates, and Reef Herons, with some yellow on the legs, which caused me
>> to wonder. Has anyone paid enough attention to Great Egret's legs to discern
>> if they occasionally show some yellow part way up? A few people have suggested
>> white morph of the Great Blue, but I think we best leave that to the folks in
>> Florida. Is our bird odd?
>>
>> If any of you have good photos of the bird, it would be interesting to see what
>> coloring you have on the legs.
>>
>> Dave Richardson
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