Since it takes about 4 birds to provide an ounce of plumes, these sales were responsible for the death of 192,960 birds, and several times that number of eggs or young destroyed in the rookeries. The result was that these birds were hunted until they were nearly extinct. Found along much of the East Coast and elsewhere in the U.S., snowy egrets spend the winter from South Carolina southward. Their main foods are fish, crabs, amphibians, and insects. While wading, the Snowy Egret shuffles about with its feet to stir up food.
Snowy egrets breed once a year.
The snowy egret acquires long, lacy plumes just for courtship, which it raises and fans to spectacular effect. Females lay three to five greenish blue eggs that hatch in three to four weeks. Their platform-like nests are built primarily of twigs and are located in trees, usually about seven feet, more or less, above the ground, or even on the ground. As with other herons, the crudeness of the nest, the elliptical form of the egg, and other signs suggest to some scientists that these birds are one of the lower forms on the scale of bird life, not far removed from the reptiles, when one reckons in eons of time.