This week in birds - #637
A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : The (to me) most beautiful member of the egret family is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week . It's the well-named Snowy Egret . The Snowy is found throughout much of the United States in migration and during breeding and it is a permanent resident throughout most of South America. It is smaller than the Great Egret and its most prominent and recognizable feature are its "golden slippers," the yellow feet at the end of black legs. We almost lost the Snowy along with the Passenger Pigeon and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker , but, just in time, it gained protection and is now increasing in numbers. *~*~*~* The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is the cornerstone of birds' protection in the United States and has been so for more than a century, so, of course, the current administration in Washington wants to gut it. The American Bird Conservancy is calling on people to contact elected representati...