2023—Dark Morph

One of the first birds we encountered on our first morning at Fort De Soto’s North Beach in Florida was a Reddish Egret, characteristically crouched and racing through the shallow water in pursuit of prey. When it stopped to survey the situation, its long elegant reddish cinnamon feathers swirled along its long neck. This is a dark morph Reddish Egret. White morphs are not uncommon but are significantly lower in numbers than the dark morph. White morphs can be difficult to distinguish from Snowy Egrets in size and coloring (except for the yellow feet) and from immature Little Blue Herons. The pink and black beak of this bird indicates that it is a breeding adult.