Bird
Snowy Egret
Egretta thula
Lives in Alabama all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 14 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 14

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 14
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Alabama 14
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.



Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.
Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Other habitats in its models (124)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Sandy Beach Summer and winter.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Summer and winter.
- Louisiana Beach Summer and winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Summer and winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Summer and winter.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Intertidal Mudflat Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Freshwater Mudflat Summer and winter.
- North American Warm Desert Playa Summer and winter.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Playa Summer.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
- Acadian Salt Marsh and Estuary Systems Summer.
- North Pacific Maritime Eelgrass Bed Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
- Mediterranean California Eelgrass Bed Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer and winter.
- Laurentian-Acadian Swamp Systems Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Shrub Swamp Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
- Great Lakes Coastal Marsh Systems Summer.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Freshwater Aquatic Bed Summer and winter, only within 120 m of water.
- North Pacific Intertidal Freshwater Wetland Summer and winter.
- North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Freshwater Emergent Marsh Summer and winter.
- Great Lakes Freshwater Estuary and Delta Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Northern Great Lakes Coastal Marsh Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Laurentian-Acadian Freshwater Marsh Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
- Northern Rocky Mountain Conifer Swamp Summer and winter.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Hardwood-Conifer Swamp Summer and winter.
- Laurentian-Acadian Alkaline Conifer-Hardwood Swamp Summer.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Interdunal Swale Wetland Summer.
- North Pacific Bog and Fen Summer and winter.
- Mediterranean California Subalpine-Montane Fen Summer and winter.
- Mediterranean California Serpentine Fen Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Pitch Pine Lowland Summer and winter, only within 120 m of water.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
- Willamette Valley Wet Prairie Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Montane Wet Meadow Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
- Northern Rocky Mountain Wooded Vernal Pool Summer and winter.
- Great Plains Prairie Pothole Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Open Freshwater Depression Wetland Summer and winter.
- Columbia Plateau Vernal Pool Summer.
- Northern California Claypan Vernal Pool Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Closed Depression Wetland Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Saline Depression Wetland Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Alkaline Closed Depression Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- California Central Valley Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Greasewood Flat Summer, only within 120 m of water.
- North Pacific Lowland Riparian Forest and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Summer and winter.
- Northern Rocky Mountain Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Rocky Mountain Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Northwestern Great Plains Floodplain Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Great Basin Foothill and Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer.
- Columbia Basin Foothill Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer.
- North American Warm Desert Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- North American Warm Desert Riparian Mesquite Bosque Summer and winter.
- North American Warm Desert Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Northwestern Great Plains Riparian Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer and winter.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 120 m of water.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 120 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter.
Seasons in Alabama
- Year-round: nests here, in 4 of 67 counties.
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 50 of 67 counties.
- Summer: nests here, in 29 of 67 counties.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 664
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food.
- Red MapleAcer rubrum
- Swamp TupeloNyssa biflora
- TitiCyrilla racemiflora
- SweetgumLiquidambar styraciflua
- Sweetbay MagnoliaMagnolia virginiana
- Common WaxmyrtleMorella cerifera
- Asclepias viridulaAsclepias viridula
- ButtonbushCephalanthus occidentalis
- Green AshFraxinus pennsylvanica
- Shining FetterbushLyonia lucida
- Slash PinePinus elliottii
- Serenoa repensSerenoa repens
- Pond CypressTaxodium ascendens
- Bald CypressTaxodium distichum
- Atlantic White CedarChamaecyparis thyoides
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Virginia SweetspireItea virginica
- Pieris phillyreifoliaPieris phillyreifolia
- Pinguicula planifoliaPinguicula planifolia
- Laurel OakQuercus laurifolia
- Water OakQuercus nigra
- Willow OakQuercus phellos
- Ruellia noctifloraRuellia noctiflora
- Whitetop PitcherplantSarracenia leucophylla
Wildlife 250
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Alabama. Not sighting records.
- Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Blue-winged WarblerVermivora pinus
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- BuffleheadBucephala albeola
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Buff-bellied HummingbirdAmazilia yucatanensis
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Snowy Egret Elevation up to 2,500 m
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)









































