Do snowy egrets procrastinate?

Has anyone ever told you to quit procrastinating - to stop dragging your feet? I'm pretty sure I heard that from my parents once or twice when I was a teenager. Well, I wish I had known then what I know now. I could have told them that dragging your feet can actually be quite productive. The snowy egret is an excellent example. I don't think they procrastinate. But they do drag their feet!

Snowy egrets are members of the heron family. They are beautiful white birds that stand about two feet tall, and weigh less than a pound. They have black bills, black legs, and shockingly yellow feet.


Snowy egrets can be differentiated from other similarly sized white herons by their black bills, black legs, and yellow feet.

Snowy egrets can be differentiated from other similarly sized white herons by their black bills, black legs, and yellow feet.

Snowy egrets hang out near shallow water, often patiently waiting for their prey to come to them.

Snowy egrets hang out near shallow water, often patiently waiting for their prey to come to them.

You can find snowy egrets hanging around in areas with shallow water, such as saltmarsh pools, tidal flats, swamps, freshwater marshes, and lake edges. Their favorite foods are fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects, and they have many creative ways of catching their prey. In fact, ornithologists have documented 28 feeding behaviors for herons, and snowy egrets use 17 of them, making them the most versatile herons around.

To catch their breakfast, snowy egrets stand in shallow water and wait for prey to come to them. Or, they hop, whirl and pirouette to surprise their prey. They use their feet to probe around in the mud. They hover over the water and stab at their prey below. These are all pretty nifty techniques. But snowy egrets' coolest feeding technique of all is...wait for it...foot dragging!


Snowy egret dragging its feet through the water, scaring unsuspecting fish toward the surface.

Snowy egret dragging its feet through the water, scaring unsuspecting fish toward the surface.

Believe it or not, "foot dragging" is a technical term used in scholarly articles about herons' feeding behaviors. When foot dragging, snowy egrets fly nice and low across a body of water so they can drag their feet as they go. Seeing those big yellow feet coming through the water scares the heck out of the fish, who swim to the surface and sometimes even jump out of the water in an attempt to escape. Big mistake! While still flying and dragging its feet, a snowy egret can grab a fish out of mid air, or even stick its head right into the water to grab a fish near the surface. Now that is some very productive foot dragging!


In an aeronautical feat, this snowy egret is flying while both dragging its feet and sticking its head in the water to catch one of the fish it has stirred up.

In an aeronautical feat, this snowy egret is flying while both dragging its feet and sticking its head in the water to catch one of the fish it has stirred up.

In my research, snowy egrets, little blue herons and Louisiana herons are the only heron species that were documented to use foot dragging. However, I have also seen great egrets use foot dragging, and I have the photographic proof! Generally speaking, great egrets seem to prefer to stand still and wait for prey to come to them, or they walk slowly through shallow water to stir up fish. But on special occasions, perhaps when water levels are too high for wading, great egrets take to the air and do some serious foot dragging.


This great egret is using foot dragging to stir up fish. Notice the bump in the water ahead of the egret. That's fish!

This great egret is using foot dragging to stir up fish. Notice the bump in the water ahead of the egret. That's fish!

This great egret is using the much more common feeding technique called "stand and wait" (another technical term used by ornithologists). Great egrets stand about 3 feet tall, have yellow bills and black legs and feet.

This great egret is using the much more common feeding technique called "stand and wait" (another technical term used by ornithologists). Great egrets stand about 3 feet tall, have yellow bills and black legs and feet.

If you look closely, you will see that while this great egret watches for fish, an alligator (mostly hidden by plants) is watching the great egret.

If you look closely, you will see that while this great egret watches for fish, an alligator (mostly hidden by plants) is watching the great egret.

So the next time someone tells you to quit dragging your feet, you can tell them all about the interesting feeding behaviors of snowy egrets and great egrets. If you talk long enough, that could be a good way to procrastinate...


Did you know?

•   Snowy egrets were nearly hunted to extinction in the late 1800s because their feathers were in high demand for women's hats. Fortunately, both fashion and the laws changed, and snowy egrets have made an amazing comeback.

•   The name Egret comes from a French word, Aigrette, which is the diminutive form of Aigron (heron).


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