"Great Egret" (Ardea alba)

	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost
	Great Egret in front of Trumpeter Swan Photograph by © Ray Desjardins
	Photograph by © Snow W. Frost

Great Egrets are the largest white egret found over most of its range and can be distinguished from other white egrets and juvenile herons by its size, yellow beak, and black legs and feet. This tall, slender-necked bird develops long trains of lacy plumes on its back that extend beyond the tail when breeding, and its yellow bill appears more orange in color.

Great Egret birds are tall and "stately". They slowly stalk in shallow wetlands looking for small fish to spear with their long sharp bill. They nest in colonies of up to 100 birds.

Greeting ceremony between pair include calls, head stretched up and over back with bill skyward, and bill clacking, in which mandibles are snapped open and shut.





Size: 38"

Male: Tall, thin, elegant all-white bird with long pointed yellow bill. Black stilt-like legs and black feet.

Female: Same as male.

Nest: Platform; male and female build; 1 brood per year. Nests in colonies with other herons, ibises, and cormorants or singly. Nest is flimsy platform of sticks, twigs, and reeds, placed in tree or shrub 8-40 feet above ground or in cattails 1-4 feet above water.

Eggs: 1-6; bluish-green, unmarked.

Incubation: 23-26 days; female and male incubate.

Fledging: 43-49 days; female and male feed young.

Migration: Complete, to southern states, Mexico, and Central America, winters in most of Florida.

Food: Fish, aquatic insects, frogs, crayfish. It primarily feeds by walking slowly, head erect, then striking prey. Forages in shallow water for small fish and smphibians, but also on land for insects, reptiles, and small mammals. May feed solitarily and defend feeding areas by displaying aggressively and supplanting intruders. Also feeds in large groups when food is concentrated. Has been known to steal fish from other birds.

Voice: A deep, rattlelike croak

Habitat: Marshes, swamps, seashores, lake margins.

Breeding: Monogamous. Colonial, usually with other species of herons, egrets, ibis, and other similar species.

In Flight: It flies singly or in groups to communal roosts in trees for the night.





My personal notes...
These are very graceful birds...especially when flying...so beautiful. Watching them fish with such accuracy is amazing. They "spear" the larger fish with their bill..take them off, then swallow the fish down their very thin neck. They "stalk" their fish...and seem to have such patience. Their "landings" are so very graceful.



***If you have a photo of a great egret or other bird species that you'd like to share...please email me.







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