HERONS and EGRETS

EGRETS

Cattle Egret
These birds didn't hit the shores of North America until 1952!  Texas is a perfect state for them, as they join herds of cattle, eating the bugs stirred up by their feet. Because they feed in fields and pastures, they are much less dependent on water than other herons. They have shorter legs and necks than the snowy egret.
Normally their bills and legs are yellow, but they are reddish during breeding season, when they also have the buff-colored plumes on the head, breast and shoulders.
It's the breeding season, and time to build a nest!  

Great Egret (Seen in The Woodlands, TX)
   
   
Mating dance.  (These birds were on the brink of extinction at the turn of the century, thanks to plume hunters who used these long, delicate plumes for hats.) A nest of hungry chicks! (Notice the green around the eyes of these mature birds during breeding season!)
Snowy Egret (Seen in The Woodlands, TX)
The Snowy Egret has a black bill and yellow feet (compare with the much larger Great Egret, which has a yellow bill and black feet.)  
It's breeding season -- look at those feathers!  The bare facial skin around the yellow eyes turns red, and there is some orange on those bright yellow feet.
HERONS

Great Blue Heron (Seen in The Woodlands, TX)

 

 
Green Heron (Seen in The Woodlands, TX)
   
   
Little Blue Heron
The adult Little Blue Heron is completely slate-blue. In the breeding season, his head and neck become a reddish-purple.
The Little Blue Heron is born WHITE, then .... .... gradually changes colors, until finally reaching the blue colors in the first two photos.
The immature (white) Little Blue Heron can be confused with the Snowy Egret, but note the two-toned grayish bill, and the gray-green legs and feet (Snowy Egret has black bill and legs, and yellow feet.)
   
Tricolored Heron
   
Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron (Seen in The Woodlands, TX)
  Yellow-crowned Night-heron, immature