Belize Biodiversity Information System NAME - Snowy Egret FAMILY - Ardeidae SCIENTIFIC NAME - Egretta thula SYNONYMS - Ardea thula - Molina, 1782 REFERENCES - 1 National abundance, Conservation or Economic Status Reference Winter visitor - migrant. 41 Resident, species present all year. 41 U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty 40 Apparently secure in Belize 39 Common: high density, likely to be seen in many places 39 Of concern: cayes and coastal zone 38 District Reference Belize 5 Cayo 4 Corozal 15 Orange Walk 6 Stann Creek 12 Administrative Unit Occurrence Temporal Reference Coastal zone, not including cayes. 29 Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve 18 Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve Sighting Dry season 4 Chiquibul Forest Reserve Dry season 16 Shipstern Nature Reserve Dry season 15 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 24 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 35 Gallon Jug Sighting Dry season 22 Gallon Jug Sighting Winter Res 6 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary Dry season 21 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary Wet season 27 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary 25 Guanacaste National Park Sighting Wet season 23 Guanacaste National Park Dry season 23 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 34 Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Sighting Dry season 13 Burdon Canal Nature Reserve 9 Community Baboon Sanctuary 26 Community Baboon Sanctuary 31 Lamanai Archaeological Reserve Dry season 14 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) Dry season 11 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) 5 Northern Lagoon/Southern Lagoon (Prop Migrant 28 Private land, see comments Collected as voucher 37 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 12 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 23 Private land, see comments Accidental 28 Private land, see comments Dry season 17 Private land, see comments 10 Private land, see comments 23 Private land, see comments 8 Government land 19 Government land 23 Government land 28 Ambergris Cay 25 Cayes, other; see comments 39 Turneffe Reef Sighting Wet season 20 Turneffe Reef 30 Caye Caulker 7 Hydrologic Association Reference New River Lagoon 35 Belize River 31 Sibun River 20 Macal River 4 Belize River 8 Cox's Lagoon 5 Mussel Creek 11 Sittee River 12 Sibun River 13 New River 14 Raspaculo River 16 Elevation Reference 1-200 m 23 1-200 m 35 1-200 m 36 1-200 m 37 1:50,000 Quadrangle Reference 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 14 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 21 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 27 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 00' to 88 15' 7 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 22 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 36 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 45' to 89 00' 36 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 26 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 28 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 31 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 35 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 28 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 36 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 7 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 23 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 32 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 8 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 36 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 5 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 28 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 37 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 9 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 19 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 27 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 9 17 00' to 17 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' 10 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 36 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 6 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 36 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 6 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 4 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 34 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 12 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 33 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 00' to 88 10' 23 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 00' to 88 10' 32 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 34 17 15' to 17 30'; 87 45' to 88 00' 30 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 15' to 88 30' 18 17 52'35" to 18 11'30"; 87 49' to 88 03' 25 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 23 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 24 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 32 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 17 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 23 Holdridge Life Zone Reference Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 36 Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 23 Subtropical wet 34 Subtropical moist 37 Subtropical moist 36 Subtropical moist 35 Subtropical moist 31 Subtropical moist 23 General Distribution Comments 41* Common northern semideciduous moist forest. Common southern moist-wet evergreen broadleaf forests. Uncommon Mtn. Pine Ridge/savannas on poor soil. Common coastal/low-lands savannas, inc. marshy areas. Common mangroves lowlands & coastal beaches. Common cayes inc. Ambergris. 39* Bird Caye Northern Lagoon 28* Airport Camp; Big Falls Rice Farm 20* Man of War Caye 19* Belize City 18* Button Lagoon 17* Gold Button Ranch 12* Possum Point Biological Station 10* Sighted at or within 5 mile radius of Chaa Creek Cottages 8* Banana Bank Ranch 4* Rubber Camp 3* Permanent resident, uncommon in summer; common in northern and southern hardwood forests, coastal savannas and mangroves and beaches; uncommon on offshore cayes. References 1 A.O.U. 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. 6th Ed. 2 A.O.U. 1985, 1987, 1989. 35th-37th Supplements. 3 Wood, D.S.,R. C. Leberman, and D. Weyer. 1986. Checklist of Birds of Belize. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication 12. 4 Miller, B.W.; C.M. Miller. 1992. Preliminary Avian Survey of the Upper Macal River: Rubber Camp and Francelia Camp, pp.55-63. in Macal River Hydroelectric Development Environmental Impact Assessment Rubber Camp and Chalillo Schemes Pre-feasibility Study - Draft Environmental Appendix. Vol. II of III 5 Hunt, H. R., J. Tamarack. 1992. Cox Lagoon Crocodile Preserve. Unpub. report. pp.4-8. 6 Miller, B. W., 1994. Belize Christmas Bird Counts, Twenty Year Summary. in prep. 7 McRae, E. 1993. Preliminary Check-list - Birds of Caye Caulker. 8 Duncan, M., W. Duncan. 1993. Banana Bank, Nov. 1, Checklist provided in lit. 9 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1993. Preliminary Avian Survey of Burdon Canal Nature Reserve. Unpublished report for the Forest Department 10 Carnegie Ornithological Group and Mass Audubon Ornithological Group, compilers. 1993. Chaa Creek Bird List. Unpublished list. 11 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1987. Conservation of a Critical Marsh and Lowland habitat, Mussel Creek drainage system, Belize, C.A. Report to NYZS/Wildlife Conservation Society. 12 Anon. 1993. Bird Checklist for Possum Point Biological Station, Sittee River, Belize 13 Anon. 1994. Monkey Bay Checklist of Birds. Unpublished list. 14 Noble, B., B. Stewart, J. Dillon. 1994. Lamanai Bird List, Mid-October 1993 - 16 March 1994. 15 Meerman, J. 1993. Checklist of the Birds of the Shipstern Nature Reserve, Occasional Papers of the Belize Natural History Society. 2(10). pp. 71-81. 16 Mallory, E. 1993. Birds of the Upper Raspaculo, Belize: JSSEUR II. Unpublished report. 17 Platt, S. 1993. Wildlife Survey of Gold Button Ranch, Belize. Unpublished report. 18 Reichelt, B., C. Philcox. 1994. DRAFT - Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve Natural History Studies. Unpublished report. 19 McDuffie, P. 1993. Personal Bird List for Belize: September 1, 1989 - December 15, 1993. Unpublished list. 20 Russell, S. M. 1964. A Distributional Study of the Birds of British Honduras. Ornithological Monographs No. 1, A.O.U. 21 Wood, D. S., R. C. Leberman. 1987. Results of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Expeditions to Belize. III. Distributional Notes on the Birds of Belize. Annals Carnegie Museum. 56(6):137-160. 22 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1994. A working checklist of the birds of Gallon Jug. Unpublished list. 23 Robbins, C. S., 1987. Birds recorded at Guanacaste National Park. Unpublished list. 24 Anon. 1994 (August). Working Checklist, Birds of Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area. Unpublished list. 25 Forsythe, D. 1994. Unpublished Belize Trip list June 18-21. 26 O'Connell, S. 1987. in Horwich, R. H. and J. Lyon. The Community Baboon Sanctuary, A Guide Book. Orangu-tan Press, Gays Mills, WI. pp. 113. 27 Counsell, D.J.R., B. Etheridge. 1986. RAFOS Expedition to Belize. Unpublished report. 28 Hallchurch, T.T., compiler. 1982. Exercise King Vulture Belize 23 Feb.- 16 March. Unpub. report for the British Army Bird Watching Society. 29 Jenkins, P. G. 1982. The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society Belize Expedition, 1981. 80.pp Unpublished report. 30 Platt, S. G. 1994. Checklist of Fauna Recorded During Crocodile Surveys of Turneffe Atoll. Unpub. checklist. 31 James, D., J. Bider. 1993. Bird List: Community Baboon Sanctuary, 1989- 1993 (derived from banding & census data, field notes). Unpublished data 32 Robbins, Chandler. 1996. U.S.F.& Wildlife Service Wintering Bird Surveys for Belize. Unpublished data provided by C. Robbins. 33 Meerman, J., T. Boomsma. 1995. False Sittee Point, Stann Creek District, Belize. Biological and Physical Survey 1995. p. 19. 34 Kamstra, J. May 1987. An Ecological Survey of the Cockscomb Basin, Belize. Masters Thesis. York University, Ontario, Canada 35 Vallely, A. C., A. A. Whitman. 1996. The birds of Hill Bank, northern Belize. Unpublished report for Programme for Belize. 36 Miller, B. W. 1997. Belize Christmas Bird Count Summary 1970-1995. Data from American Birds Vol. 28-50 including 1973-1996. 37 Hinshaw, J. 1997. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology bird holdings through Jun. 1, 1997. 38 McRae, E., 1994. The Birds of Belize's Coastal Zone: Species, Distribution, Current Status, Threats to Their Well-being, and Potential Measures to Reduce Their impact. Unpublished report. 39 Miller, B.W., C.M. Miller. 1997. Avian Risk Assessment for Belize, Species at Risk and of Conservation Concern. Report to Programme for Belize/TNC Wings of America Program. 40 Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter B., Part 10.13: List of Migratory Birds. U.S. Government Printing Office: 1985 0-488-794. (Lists all species of migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-711). 41 Garcia, J., S. Matola, M. Meadows, and C. Wright. 1994. A Checklist of the Birds of Belize. WWF-US. 35p.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Ministry of Natural Resources' Land Information Centre
01/19/98