Subject: Reddish egret, Egretta rufescens

Location: Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

Stock Number: MWE-06. This photo is most appropriate for web use or smaller print reprodution.

Comments: Birders regularly descend upon south Florida, south Louisiana, and south Texas, hoping to add the Reddish Egret to their life lists.

Plume hunters once extirpated this bird from Florida, but it has since been reestablished there.

Its feeding routine resembles something from the Twyla Tharp dance troupe. Unlike the staid Great Blue Heron, the Reddish Egret moves very quickly, twisting, turning, and leaping to surprise its prey.

This bird was dancing in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, on the Texas coast.