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Sounds
Vocalizations
Development
Soft, buzzing calls from downy young. Food-begging call 2–3 syllables/s with dominant frequency of 2,500–3,500 Hz (Davis 1979).
Vocal Array
From Meyerriecks 1960, except where noted. Not very vocal except at breeding sites. May produce high-pitched Aargaarg call when flushed from foraging sites. Low-pitched Arg, Aarh, Aah, Raah calls may accompany aggressive displays. Calls become increasingly harsh and raspy as intensity of agonistic display increases. Dominant frequency of aggressive vocalizations 1,100–1,200 Hz (Davis 1979). Both sexes utter high-pitched Aarh advertising call, but a distinctive Arg-obble or low-pitched bubbling or gurgling Wah-wahwah was produced only by males during courtship (Ogden 1978). Calls A-wah-wah-wah during stationary and aerial stretch displays. Greeting call characterized by 2 long syllables (1 s) followed by a few to many short ones (0.1 s); dominant frequency is 1,700 Hz (Davis 1979). May use Aarg call during Pursuit Flights or Supplanting Attacks.
Phenology
No information.
Daily Pattern
No information.
Places Of Vocalizing
Advertising calls given from prominent perch in colony (Meyerriecks 1960).
Nonvocal Sounds
Mandibles are snapped together, producing clicking sound during “snap display” (Meyerriecks 1960).
Parsons, Katharine C. and Terry L. Master. 2000. Snowy Egret (Egretta thula), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/489
