GREEN BAY (WTAQ-WLUK) - Big white birds have been spotted in wetlands areas throughout Northeast Wisconsin.
The Great Egret is a large bird and its population is considered threatened at the state level.
But experts say the Egrets are making a bit of a comeback at least in the Green Bay area.
With piercing yellow eyes and a bill to match, the snow-white Great Egret is easy to see at the Ken Euers Nature Area in Green Bay.
"They usually hang out here in the summer," said Charoeth Tomaschefsky, Green Bay.
Tomaschefsky walks through the park on a regular basis.
"They are really pretty. Just because the contrast with the rest of the surroundings. So they really stick out," she said.
The big white birds can stand three feet tall or more, and have a wingspan of four and a half feet. Experts say in the 1800s, the birds were hunted for their feathers.
"And almost a 95 percent reduction of their population," said Mike Reed, Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary Director.
Reed says conservation groups formed, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act soon followed, protecting birds throughout North America.
"The Great Egret was the poster bird for that movement. Since then, its population has rebounded significantly," he said.
Reed says that includes the waters of Green Bay.
"A few years ago, there was a colony failure down in the Horicon Marsh area. Those birds spread up in this direction, and have been nesting here ever since," he said.
And there's another reason why people may be seeing more of the big white birds. Experts say much of the area's invasive reed grass called phragmites, has been cut down and taken away.
"That's opened up some feeding areas for them that I think were inaccessible because of the density of the phragmites," said Reed.
And with the wetlands mostly cleared, the Egrets continue to patrol the new habitat, searching, stalking, and striking.
"It's just nice to have a different kind of scene of Wisconsin," said Tomaschefsky.
The Egrets typically spend the summer in Northeast Wisconsin.
In late September, the birds fly south, and spend the winter in places like the Gulf of Mexico, and even Central America.
