With the Wild Things: Egrets

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|a With the Wild Things: Egrets |h [electronic resource].

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|a Ft. Myers, Florida : |b Whitaker Center in the College of Arts and Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University.

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|a 5 podcasts, approximately 1 minute each in length

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|a Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the users responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights.

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|a Source: Egrets 1 Length of Segment: 00:01:11 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Among the most beautiful of birds are herons and egrets. There's no great distinction between them, though most egrets are white, and most herons are not. The term 'egret' comes from the French word 'aigrette' A-I-G-R-E-T-T-E, a word that refers especially to the long filamentous feathers that seems to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season like a beautiful veil. Egret feathers are used in the bird's elaborate courtship displays, and were almost their undoing. In the late-1800s, ladies' fashions included use of egrets on hats and other apparel. For awhile, egret feathers were literally worth their weight in gold. Plume hunters entered nesting colonies, killing thousands of the birds, leaving eggs and chicks to die. Egret populations plummeted. Public sentiment came to the side of the birds and the controversy gave birth to a conservation movement that included formation of the National Association of Audubon Societies and passage of laws to protect the birds. Florida, with its vast swamplands and rich bird life, was at the heart of the controversy.

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|a Source: Egrets 2 Length of Segment: 00:01:11 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The great egret is North America's largest egret and can be found throughout the United States and into southern Canada. Within its family in North America, only the great blue heron is larger. The great egret is a year-around resident of Florida and its populations swell in winter with the arrival of northern migrants. Standing nearly three feet tall on nearly foot-and-a-half long black legs, the great egret has pure white plumage, a three inch long yellow dagger-like bill, yellow eyes, and bare, bright-green skin between its eyes and its bill. Skin color brightens and the long filamentous egret feathers are at their finest as the breeding season approaches. Otherwise, the great egret looks much the same year-around. The great egret is a generalist among egrets; it finds food in almost any wetland habitat and its numbers have increased in recent years. As it moves between wetlands, it flies slowly with a steady, flapping flight, its legs extended behind, and neck held in an ‘F’ shape; a posture resulting from special muscles these birds have that allow fast, accurate stabbing of prey.

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|a Source: Egrets 3 Length of Segment: 00:01:22 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Watch a great egret as it descends slowly on large rounded white wings gently into the water, or at the water's edge, its neck extended forward, its head down, and its long legs dangling beneath it. It's as if the wings were a parachute and the long legs, the cord suspending a precious cargo… in a way, they are. Those legs are very fragile and essential for the great egret to get its next meal. An egret's wings are exceptionally large to allow a gentle landing, protecting its fragile legs, essential tools of its trade as a master fisherman of the marsh. Heavier ducks, in contrast, have much smaller wings, must beat them vigorously, arrive as if late for a meeting, and land with a splash. For them, flight speed is an ally, the water a cushion, and smaller wings are less cumbersome and easily out of the way when they tip up or dive to retrieve food underwater. The advantage a great egret gains by having long legs is obvious: it has access to more prey. Different herons and egrets co-exist, in part, because of differences in feeding strategies and choice of feeding sites. Each is a master of its particular niche. The great egret specializes in fish, frogs, crayfish, and other prey that generally fall in the three to six inch range, just right for its appetite.

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|a Source: Egrets 4 Length of Segment: 00:01:15 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The white color of great egrets absorbs less heat from the sun; darker birds heat up quicker. Being white helps keep this bird of the sunshine cool, but how does a great egret stay so white? It wades around all day in muddy water, yet never appears to have mud or stain on its feathers. Four factors come into play. The great egret, like most birds, has an oil gland at the base of the tail. It gets oil from this gland on the bill and wipes it on its feathers. The oil waterproofs the feathers, preventing them from absorbing the muddy water. The smooth texture of the feathers helps prevent caking of mud on them. A great egret also spends much time preening, cleaning, and rearranging its feathers. Herons and egrets have patches of crumbly feathers called 'powder downs'. The birds grab some of these in the bill and wipe them on their feathers. This coats the feathers with powder. The effect of these adaptations gives the birds a somewhat teflon-like coat that seems to repel dirt. While much preening is done with the bill, herons and egrets also have a comb-like claw on the middle toe of each foot, this built-in comb is used to preen and clean those beautiful feathers.

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|a Source: Egrets 5 Length of Segment: 00:01:04 Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. It's good news to know that the results of more than 30 years of North American breeding bird surveys suggest that populations of the great egret are holding steady. This long-legged wader is a familiar sight in North American wetlands, and its presence in stable populations can be taken as an indication that we've been doing something right with the environment. On the other hand, we know that this bird faces difficulties in our modern world that its ancestors didn't have to cope with. For example, many are killed each year as a result of collisions with utility wires that pass through wetland habitats. Wetlands on airports have brought these birds into habitats dangerous both to them and to the flying public. An egret's slow flight makes them especially vulnerable to being hit. Oil and other chemical pollutants also take a toll. But the single most important problem egrets face is habitat destruction, ranging from draining of wetlands to clearing of nesting areas.

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