Great Blue Heron White Morph.... Rare? Or just my first time seeing one?

[Daniel Madrigal]

[Daniel Madrigal]

I saw it in Shark Valley today. At first I wasn't sure what it was, looked like a huge Great Egret. I got a little closer and noticed it's head and neck. Anyone else ever seen one?

[Connie Mier]

Quite common, but not nearly as common as the blue version.

[Connie Mier]

Now, if you see one of these, that's rare. This is a Wurdemann's heron

[Gary M]

Daniel,

They are much more common down in the lower Keys. In fact, much of the backcountry down there is within the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge.  Now that you have noticed one, you will probably start to see them more often... but usually around saltier environments.

GM

[Connie Mier]

Gary, that's an interesting thing, I wonder when the wildlife refuge was created. There has been a raging debate (well, raging as far as the birding community is concerned) as to whether the "great white heron" is a separate species or at least subspecies from the GBH (according to Sibling), or if it is a white morph (albino or otherwise) of the GBH. That fact that there are so many of them makes you think that it is a separate species and certainly not an uncommon albino. And then you have the Wurdemann's below which is much rarer and is a cross between the blue and white morphs. Go figure.

I see these white morphs often on Biscayne Bay and have seen them a few times in the Everglades. I captured the Wurdemann's heron nesting among great white egrets in the Everglades and recently, there was one nesting in Wakadahatchee refuge (further north)

[Gary M]

Connie,

My money would be on that all three (including Wurdemann's) are the same species, with minor phenotypic variation due to environments. Now, if you give 'em a couple million years, and geographic isolation, they probably would separate genotypically.

DNA testing is gonna take all the fun out of this...(or it should) - but biologists love their "raging" debates. Despite only minor DNA differences (muddled up by forced cross breeding with the Texas cougars), some biologists want to say the Florida panther is distinct species - because of a few minor characteristics like whorled fur and a slightly kinked tail.

It all comes down to how ya define "species". If plumage color can define a subspecies, then ya got three different ones here.

[Connie Mier]

Duh, I meant Sibley, not sibling.

[Swamp Hunter]

http://www.sibleyguides.com/2007/11/great-white-heron-not-just-a-co...

[Connie Mier]

Was back on Biscayne Bay and found the albino yellowcrown nightheron again. Here's another shot of this rare bird.

[Gary M]

On my way out of the Park this weekend, standing right there at one of the culverts at Taylor Slough, was a Great White Heron.

Funny how when you start looking for some particular species, all of a sudden you start seein' 'em all over the place.

It did not work for me looking for your albino nightheron though... I think you found a pretty rare critter.

The guy I took out kept asking me to ID different birds.  At one point, we flushed something white that squawked like the usual  Egret, so without paying much attention I said that's what it was.  But he said it had black on the wings. So, I changed to Ibis and said look for a curved beak... he said "nope" straight beak???  I looked up and just caught a quick and final  glance of what looked like, and flew like, an Egret, but had distinct black marks on the wings! Right size too.

Got any idea what it was? Do they get this plumage when its courtin' time?

[Connie Mier]

Gary, the only white birds with black on the wings that I know of are ibis and wood stork, both with curved beaks. The only other thing I can think of is that it was a juvy little blue heron starting to get its blue feathers and maybe the markings were such that the blue stood out on the wings. Or maybe its wings were muddy???