snowy egret

American  

noun

1. a white egret, Egretta thula, of the warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere: formerly hunted in great numbers for its plumes, the species is now protected and has recovered.

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snowy egret British  

noun

1. a small American egret, Egretta thula, having a white plumage, yellow legs, and a black bill

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Etymology

Origin of snowy egret

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Example Sentences

In 1886, snowy egret plumes developed during breeding season were worth $32 per ounce, twice the value of gold at that time, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

From Washington Times • Jul. 5, 2017

Officials say the tree was home to migratory and protected birds, such as the snowy egret and black-crowned night heron.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 29, 2015

And it’s unlikely that the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute would yield anything more extravagant than the plumage of the snowy egret, an apparition of weightless white filament set against a Romantically storm-swollen sky.

From New York Times • Mar. 27, 2014

An American alligator snares a snowy egret in St. Augustine, Florida.

From Washington Post • Dec. 9, 2013

Missouri: The birds threatened with extermination are the American woodcock, wood-duck, snowy egret, pinnated grouse, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, golden eagle, bald eagle, pileated woodpecker.

From Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation by Hornaday, William Temple