Reddish Egret

About the Reddish Egret

The Reddish Egret is the character actor of the Texas flats - a lanky, medium-large heron with a shaggy rust-colored head and neck over slate-gray body, a pink bill dipped in black, and cobalt-blue legs. A less common white morph, snow white with the same two-toned pink bill, occurs along the Texas coast as well.

No other heron feeds like it. Instead of standing patiently, the Reddish Egret sprints, staggers, spins, and leaps through the shallows - wings flashing open to spook fish or throw hunting shade - in a performance birders affectionately call the drunken-sailor dance. It is the most entertaining fifteen minutes a bird photographer can spend on a Texas flat.

The Reddish Egret is North America's rarest heron and is listed as Near Threatened, with Texas holding a large share of the U.S. breeding population on its coastal spoil islands. It is a year-round resident of the coast, and the flats and boardwalk pools from Port Aransas to South Padre are among the most reliable places in the world to watch one perform.