Leslie S. Anderson
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
There is a rookery (egretry?) in residential Santa Rosa that I was photographing. The trees have many nests of Great and Snowy Egrets and Black-crowned Night-Herons. When I returned home (to Arcata, CA) and reviewed my photos, I noticed this strange beak on one of the juveniles begging food from its parent. I’m not sure if it had fledged yet. Probably a mutation?
Tag:
Hi Leslie, That curvature is unusual. I haven’t seen it before in this species, but I’ll ask around of my colleagues if anyone has information about this malformation. -Robyn @ NestWatch