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Great Egret

Ardea albaOrder: CICONIIFORMESFamily: Bitterns, Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)

Great Egret Portrait
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General

Great Egret: Large, white heron with yellow eyes. Bill is yellow but may appear orange when breeding. Legs and feet are black. Long feather plumes extend from the back to beyond the tail during breeding season. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Great Egret: Breeds locally from Oregon south to western Mexico and from Minnesota to the Mississippi Valley and southeast U.S.; also occurs along the Atlantic coast north to southern New England. Spends winters regularly from Oregon south through the southwest, Texas, and Gulf coast states to Mexico, and on the Atlantic coast north to New Jersey. Preferred habitats include fresh and salt marshes, marshy ponds, and tidal flats.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"kroow"

Interesting Facts

 A group of egrets has many collective nouns, including a "congregation", "heronry", "RSVP", "skewer", and "wedge" of egrets.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Great Egret
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)_blue
Species Ardea alba
Length37 - 41 Inches
Wingspan55 Inches

Great Egret

Great Egret: Large, white heron with yellow eyes. Bill is yellow, may appear orange when breeding. Black legs and feet. Long feather plumes extend from the back to beyond the tail during breeding season. Feeds on fish, frogs, insects, snakes and crayfish. Bouyant direct flight on steady wing beats.

● Song: "kroow"

● Foraging & Feeding: Great Egret: Feeds mainly on crayfish, shrimp, aquatic insects, frogs, fish, crabs, and snails. Occasionally eats lizards, snakes, salamanders, mice, and moles; forages while wading.

● Breeding & nesting: Great Egret: One to six pale blue or blue green eggs are laid in a nest constructed of sticks, twigs, and stems of marsh plants, with little or no lining, and built in a medium-sized tree 20 to 40 feet above the ground; often nests in colonies. Incubation ranges from 23 to 26 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Great Egret: Snowy Egret is smaller with black bill and legs, and yellow feet. In southern Florida, the white form of the Great Blue Heron is larger and has yellow legs.

Flight Pattern

Buoyant direct flight with deep steady wing beats.
Great Egret Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Great Egret: Breeds locally from Oregon south to western Mexico and from Minnesota to the Mississippi Valley and southeast U.S.; also occurs along the Atlantic coast north to southern New England. Spends winters regularly from Oregon south through the southwest, Texas, and Gulf coast states to Mexico, and on the Atlantic coast north to New Jersey. Preferred habitats include fresh and salt marshes, marshy ponds, and tidal flats.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationExpanding northward
MigrationSome migrate
Weight32 Ounces