What's that white bird in the swamp? Discover what a great egret eats, where it lives, and how the bird bounced back from near-extinction.
Great Egret Identification
Look for a flash of white along coasts and shorelines to locate a great egret. Long-legged like a heron, the great egret’s all-white feathers and its yellow bill tend to make it an easy spot in its preferred habitat. Other recognizable marks include its black legs, and a long, S-shaped neck. In flight and sometimes when at rest, the bird tucks its neck in.
During breeding season, these birds develop showy plumes — called “aigrettes” — that they use in courtship, and for which they were nearly hunted to extinction in the early 1900s. At one point, only 1.5% of the original North American population remained. Conservation efforts, such as the banning of hunting the birds for plumes, have helped stabilize the species.
Check out these herons and egrets you can find in North America.
Range and Habitat
Great egrets appear in both freshwater and saltwater habitats. You might find them in swamps, streams, lakes, tidal flats, and ponds.
These birds show up throughout most of the United States, although their year-round range is limited to coastlines, especially the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. With that said, during breeding season they expand their range to include much of the country, including the Midwest, Great Plains, and Northeast.
Learn how to identify a snowy egret.
Nesting Habits
As mixed colony nesters, great egrets usually share their nesting space with other birds. They build nests high in trees, up to 40 feet off the ground and possibly 90 feet, if situated in a tall enough tree. Both male and female participate in nest construction, which generally spans 3 feet in width and one foot in depth. The female lays one to six eggs per season, which she incubates for about three weeks. Approximately three weeks after hatching, young are ready to leave the nest.
Diet: What Do Great Egrets Eat?
A great egret’s diet consists largely of fish, which it captures by wading in shallow water and then snagging rapidly with its bill. Beyond fish, great egrets will also snack on frogs, snakes, rodents, and even other small birds.
Calls and Sounds
Far from songbirds, great egrets’ calls are a harsh, rattling croak. Birders would most likely hear those calls during breeding season.
Bird sounds courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Great Egret Migration
“While driving in October, we passed a small swamp and noticed this egret (above). I haven’t usually spotted this bird this late in the season. Was it past its migration time?” asks Birds & Blooms reader Patricia Austin of Port Hope, Ontario.
Birding experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman say, “In Ontario, numbers of great egrets increase in late summer, when some birds move north after nesting in the central and southern United States. This post-breeding dispersal, as it’s called, is different from the migrations of most birds and puts peak numbers in Ontario during August and September. Many great egrets can still be found in the southern part of the province during early October, especially along Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and a few will linger into early November. But they’re widely scattered, so it’s a matter of luck when you get to see one so late in the season.”
Sources
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Great Egret: Life History“
- National Audubon Society, “Field Guide: Great Egret“
