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Great White Egret Nest — Mom and Babies

Mom and baby Great Egrets in the nest. These babies are very young, I would guess less than a week old. I love how they’re playing together! The mom is still in full breeding plumage; you can see her beautiful feathers.

Back in the early 1900s, huge numbers of the birds were killed for this beautiful plumage to make hats. Luckily, that practice finally became illegal before the birds became extinct.

From National Geographic: “These birds nest in trees, near water and gather in groups called colonies (or rookeries), which may include other heron or egret species. They are monogamous, and both parents incubate their three to four eggs. Young egrets are aggressive towards one another in the nest, and stronger siblings often kill their weaker kin so that not all survive to fledge in two to three weeks.”

Photo taken on April 20, 2018, near the South Carolina coast.