Snowy Egret’s Spiritual Message and Animal Symbolism

My husband Dave and I just returned from a week on Lake Winneconne, Wisconsin where we held a memorial service for his father, Gene Kuhns. Gene lived on the lake and was an avid nature lover and conservationist. He instilled a love of nature in his children and Dave helped me go from a fondness for nature to seeing and hearing Jesus Christ, our Creator, throughout the wonders of the natural world.

While we were in Winneconne, we went to one of my favorite birding locations – Mud Creek. I’ve been canoeing up this creek numerous times with my husband, but I’ve never had the occasion to capture quality photographs of a snowy egret. Their plumes were once very popular for women’s hats, and at one time were hunted to dangerously low populations. It is now illegal to hunt snowy egrets per the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so their populations are back to normal.

We saw a couple great blue herons that day, and I’m always happy to photograph them, but the snowy egret was an outstanding treat for me. I didn’t realize this before, but snowy egrets are actually small herons. You can see the similarity in the long legs and graceful, wide wingspan.

Where to Find Snowy Egrets

Where will you find snowy egrets? Snowy Egrets are adept at fishing; thus, you’ll find them in aquatic environments – coastal areas, bays, and inlets. Their favorite areas are marshes and wetlands like Mud Creek. I’m kind of surprised I have only seen these birds flying in the distance and haven’t seen one up close.

Snowy egrets are pure white except for the yellow coloring around the eyes and black legs. You can tell a juvenile snowy egret from an adult one by the color of its legs. A juvenile will have duller, greenish legs whereas the adults have black legs.

Snowy Egret Symbolism

Snowy egrets are graceful and stunning. With white body and plumage, pale eyes, and long black legs, they convey rich symbolism in their coloring alone.

Whether you’re talking about Native American lore or Eastern symbolism, these birds convey grace, purity, and peace. Elegance is another word you’ll see in conjunction with this bird. So is good fortune — perhaps because it will be your good fortune to happen upon one of these majestic birds and get close enough to examine it.

Snowy egrets also represent the Divine feminine and wisdom with all the grace and exquisite purity that goes along with it. It is rather appropriate that I would be able to photograph one of these birds while I’ve been studying the correlation between Wisdom and the Divine Feminine!

Photos of Snowy Egrets

Besides the featured image on this page, here are a few more photos I captured in two sitings of the snowy egret at Mud Creek. These photos capture the elegance and ethereal quality of the snowy egret’s wings and graceful flight. I feel truly fortunate to have had a chance to capture quality photographs of this exquisite bird.

Snowy Egrets as Spiritual Messengers

As you might deduce from the angel-like wings of the snowy egret, this bird also has a spiritual connotation and could be a message that you have angels with you, watching over you. Considering we were in Winneconne to honor my father-in-law, Gene Kuhns, and I felt his presence with us numerous times, I believe this snowy egret is a spiritual messenger reminding us that he is always near.

I feel the snowy egret came to confirm the message I was given while journaling with God two days earlier on July 4, 2025, the day of Gene’s Memorial. Notice the spiritual message of peace and seeing the sacred in nature:

No legacy is wasted. Peace isn’t necessarily a place “out there” but is what you carry with you. Gene created a peaceful place where he felt a connection with God and His creations. His children know how to find that wherever they go. They all know how to connect to God in nature and that is the legacy Gene leaves.

He’s left his legacy within you personally. Nature has become a place for you to see, hear and feel God near – not that you didn’t feel it before – but it has become intentional, and you look for Christ’s messages in nature when you slow down. All of this is largely because of Dave’s Grandma Bertha (who taught Gene), and they both taught Dave and his siblings Their legacy now continues in you and those you impact.

Legacies are carried in hearts, above all else. Remember, “the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)

As I reflect upon this exquisite bird and the man who encouraged me to explore the wonders of Mud Creek and to see God’s presence in nature, I think of this song written by Richard Marx and Linda Thompson and performed by Josh Groban:

To Where You Are by Josh Groban

[Verse 1]
Who can say for certain
Maybe you’re still here
I feel you all around me
Your memory so clear
Deep in the stillness
I can hear you speak
You’re still an inspiration
Can it be

[Pre-Chorus]
That you are my forever love
And you are watching over me
From up above?

[Chorus]
Fly me up to where you are beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight to see you smile
If only for a while to know you’re there
A breath away’s not far to where you are

[Verse 2]
Are you gently sleeping
Here inside my dream?
And isn’t faith believing
All power can’t be seen?
As my heart holds you
Just one beat away
I cherish all you gave me every day

[Pre-Chorus]
‘Cause you are my forever love
Watching me from up above
And I believe that angels breathe
And that love will live on and never leave

[Chorus]
Fly me up to where you are beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight to see you smile
If only for a while to know you’re there
A breath away’s not far to where you are

[Outro]
I know you’re there
A breath away’s not far to where you are

Have you seen a snowy egret? What might this angelic bird be telling you? What message do you feel the Creator conveying to you? I’d love to hear your experience with a snowy egret!