[obol] FW: Great White Heron in OR

[geraldham at comcast.net]

......Sibley , in his Guides to Birds, does indeed describe and picture a white morph(Great White Heron) of the Great Blue Heron---also a intermediate morph---both types common in the Florida Keys and southern Florida.
.......They do look similar to the Great Egret, except for their larger size heavier bill, and paler legs. However, I have never read about, seen or heard of this subspecies in this part of the country, so a Great Egret seems more logical in Oregon and Wash., though strange species have been known up in even stranger places---so anything  could be possible, I guess
.
....Cheers.......Gerald Hamilton
                         Brush Prairie, Wash.
                         geraldham at comcast.net
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-------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
From: "peterpatricelli" <peterpatricelli at comcast.net>
To: <obol at lists.oregonstate.edu>
Subject: [obol] Great White Heron in OR
Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 19:15:59 +0000
> A friend, who is NOT a birder, recently mentioned seeing Great White Herons on 
> his property near Tygh Valley.  I told him I suspected he was seeing Great 
> Egrets, and was told that I was wrong.  While I am hardly a heavyweight, I have 
> spent more time perusing bird books than most people and had never even heard of 
> a White phase Great Blue Heron.  Now I come to learn that a formerly separate 
> Florida species has been determined to represent an occidentalis subsp. of the 
> Great Blue Heron.
> 
> But a Google search gives no help at determining whether this occidentalis subsp 
> ever occurs in OR.  Obviously OBOL is the best place to ask this question.
> 
> Does the White phase (occidentalis) Great Blue Heron occur in OR?  How would one 
> distinguish one from the commonly seen Great Egrets?
> 
> Peter Patricelli  


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