Snowy Egret attack!

Snowy Egrets can be aggressive and territorial birds, chasing other Snowys out of their perceived turf. Frequently to the detriment of getting a meal, they’ll fluff up their plumes and head crests, leap at each other, and spend their energy chasing others instead of fishing. I’ll do a future post showing this behavior because it can be very entertaining to watch the frantic activity, but today I’m posting about a specific encounter I had in the spring. While it was mating season, I didn’t get the sense that this was an attempt at mating . Much like Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, the male Snowy Egret will pose and posture to attract a female, usually at a nest site. Out of the blue, a Snowy Egret flew in and, in my view, proceeded to try to drown the other one that had been quietly searching for a meal.

The bird on the right is the aggressor.

Leaping onto the victim.

Standing on the head to hold it underwater.

Shifting position. I though the egret was dead at this point.

Still trying to escape. Check out that death grip on the Snowy Egret’s neck

The Snowy Egret is actually holding the other’s head underwater with its beak.

Escape at last!

This battle raged for close to 10 minutes and several times, I thought the one egret was surely dead, but somehow it managed to escape. The aggressor followed, so I have no idea what occurred afterward. Has anyone else witnessed this kind of attack? In all my years of watching and photographing herons and egrets, this was a first for me.

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