To better understand how birds balance the demands of reproduction and food-provisioning, Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula) were studied from May-July 2009 and 2010 in a mixed-species colony in Wichita, Kansas. Observations included 68 h of scan samples at 34 nests which yielded >11,000 instantaneous records; the durations of 57 food-provisioning trips made by eight radio-tagged birds; 73 records of foraging locations, and 27 h of foraging activity and aggressive intraspecific interactions. Adult activities at the nest included sitting (41% of the time), standing (18%), preening (10%), nest maintenance (7%) and feeding chicks (<1%). Incubating adults spent significantly more time sitting but less time standing than did adults with chicks. The amount of time that both parents were away from the nest increased significantly with chick age. Multiple regression analysis with AIC modeling showed that Julian date, chick stage, and year were important predictor variables in nest activity patterns. Mean food-provisioning intervals (242 ±22 min; range = 52-539 min) differed among radio-tagged birds, but did not differ by time of day or date. Round-trip flight distances averaged 16.1 ±3.2 km (range = 6-49 km), and also differed among birds. Distances to foraging sites were combined with published energetic values to estimate flight costs. Compared with birds that used distant foraging sites (>18 km from the colony), birds that used sites near the colony (<3 km) had higher capture efficiencies but caught smaller prey, had much higher rates of aggression, and lower rates of energy intake.