This large egret is widely distributed across the tropical and temperate regions in the world. It can be found on all continents. This large white bird can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs. It feeds in shallow waters where it hunts for fish, frogs, small mammals and reptiles.
The Great Egret is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2015 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend is not known, but the population is not believed to be decreasing sufficiently rapidly to approach the thresholds under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
If you think our Birdorable birds are cute as adults, what about when they are babies? Below are some baby photos (shared via Flickr Creative Commons) of the Great Egret. Great Egrets nest in a large colony group, which is known as a rookery or a heronry.... Read more »
The Great Egret is one of the latest birds we've added to Birdorable. It is widely distributed across the tropical and temperate regions in the world and can be found on all continents. We see these beautiful... Read more »
