Ardea alba

Common

Freshwater, mud flats, tidal shallows, marshes, irrigation canals, open riverbanks.

Frogs, lizards, snakes, crayfish, fish, mice, birds, aquatic and other insects.

36″ to 42″

Loud, low-pitched, rapid cuk-cuk-cuk.

This is a large, 36″ to 42″ long, slender bird with a wingspan of 48″ to 60″. It weighs 32 to 40 ounces. Males are larger than females. They live about 15 years.

The plumage is completely white. The neck is very long. Small patches of skin between the eyes and bill (lores) are green.

The bill is long, stout, straight, and yellow.

The legs are long and black. The feet are black.

In flight their neck is pulled back forming an "S" curve and they trail their feet.

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a stockier, much smaller bird, 19″ to 21″. The bill and legs are orange.

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) is a smaller bird, 22″ to 26″. The bill is black. The feet are yellow, though the legs, like those of the Great Egret, are black.

Nesting is usually in colonies in wetlands and wooded swamps, often with Great Blue Herons and Double-crested Cormorants. Occasionally, a pair will nest alone. The nest is a platform of sticks, twigs, and stems in a tree or tall shrub over water.

The clutch is 1 to 6 (average 3) pale, greenish-blue eggs.

Breeding: (map)

Winter: Pacific coast north to central Oregon, Gulf coast, and Atlantic coast north to South Carolina.

Also called Common Egret, American Egret.

The common name is a misnomer, as this is actually a heron, in the genus Ardea (great herons).

The Great Egret is the symbol for the National Audubon Society.