Virginia is home to many unique birds, coming in at different colors, shapes and sizes. In this article I’ll be covering 5 birds that are white or mostly white in color that consider Virginia home.

• Great Egret 
• Cattle Egret 
• White Breasted Nuthatch 
• Tundra Swan 
• Snowy Egret 

5 White Birds In Virginia

1. Great Egret (Ardea Alba)

• Size: 80 -100cm
• Weight: 0.7 – 1.5kg
• Wingspan: 130 – 170cm

You’ll be able to spot great egrets in the eastern side of the state when breeding whilst in west Virginia, with some of these birds staying in southwest Virginia year round. 

Great egrets are recognised by their extremly long necks, yellow bill, long black legs and mostly white plumage. Both males and females look very similar with the males being generally larger than the females.

Great egrets spend the majority of their time within marshes, ponds, shores and mud flats.

As for what they eat, it includes primarily consume fish along with crustaceans, amphibians, and small mammals. They will also forage around open areas.

Great egrets tend to live for around 15 years in the wild and around 22 years in captivity.

2. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus Ibis)

• Size: 45 – 50cm
• Weight: 270 – 512 grams
• Wingspan: 82 – 95cm

These cattle egrets can be found in the western and central part of Virginia when breeding whilst they’ll typically migrate through the remainder of the state to a region they prefer to to breed or go through winter at. 

Cattle egrets are recognised by their mostly white plumages, with hints of orange around the head and chest, coupled with 2 yellow legs and a yellow beak. Females look very similar to the males but, are slightly smaller and have smaller breeding plumes than the opposite gender.

As for where you’ll be able to find these egrets, they will often reside by open habitats, wetlands, grasslands and woodlands generally following cattle around.

Cattle egrets generally tend to eat insects, worms, reptiles, frogs and mice.

In regards to lifespan, a cattle egret is known to live for around 10 years in the wild.

3. White Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta Carolinensis)

• Size: 13 – 14cm
• Weight: 18 – 30 grams
• Wingspan: 20 – 27cm

White breasted nuthatches can be found in the majority of Virginia all throughout the year. 

These white breasted nuthatches are recognised by their gray back, wings and the upper head with white breast feathers. Females look the same as the males.

As for where you would find these white breasted nuthatches, it would be around mature woods and woodland edges, where they’re most commonly located by deciduous stands that have maple, hickory, basswood, oak and are even found in some coniferous forests.

They mostly consume nuts, seeds and insects, which can include hazelnuts, sunflower seeds and suet.

As for how long white breasted nuthatches live in the wild, it tends to be around 2 years with the longest lifespan recorded around 12 years.

4. Tundra Swan (Cygnus Columbianus)

• Size: 120  – 147cm
• Weight: 3.8 – 10.5kg
• Wingspan: 160 – 175cm

Tundra swans can be found in the western region of Virginia when they aren’t breeding whilst in the rest of the state they’ll be making their migratory passage to their breeding and non-breeding habitats. 

These swans are recognised by their entirely white plumage, with black and yellow beaks. Male and female tundras look the same but, the bills of males will swell up in breeding season unlike the females.

You’ll often find these swans around near the coast. During migration and through the winter, they inhabit shallow lakes, slow-moving rivers, flooded fields, and coastal estuaries.

As tundra swans are herbivores, they will primarily eat roots, stems and leaves of aquatic vegetation, such as mannagrass, pondweeds, and even algae.

The average lifespan for these birds is around 10 years although this lower number is due to the various diseases these swans to suffer from. If a tundra swan is in good health throughout their lives, staying alive for 20 – 24 years isn’t too far off from what’s possible.

5. Snowy Egret (Egretta Thula)

• Size: 56 – 66cm
• Weight: 350 – 390 grams
• Wingspan: 95 – 105cm

You can spot snowy egrets in the far southwestern region of Virginia when breeding whilst they will typically be migrating through the central part of the state. 

Snowy egrets as their name would suggest are snow white birds with a long neck, black beak, black legs whilst also having a relatively large frame. Besides their sexual organs the only differentiating factors between males and females are that the males are slightly larger.

You’ll find these egrets by mudflats, beaches, and wetlands, but you can also see them forage in wet agricultural fields and along the edges of rivers and lakes. 

Snowy egrets eat a variety of foods from fish, insects, crustaceans which includes crabs, crayfish, frogs, snakes, snails, worms, lizards, rodents and more.

These egrets are known to live for around 5 – 6 years in the wild and upwards of 16 years in captivity.