Afghanistan (P), Albania (B) (NB) (P), Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua And Barbuda, Armenia (B) (NB), Australia (B), Austria (B), Azerbaijan (B) (NB) (P), Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium (B), Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B), Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria (B) (NB) (P), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China (mainland) (B), Christmas Island, Congo, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B) (NB) (P), Cyprus (B) (NB) (P), Czech Republic (B), Denmark (P), Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France (B) (NB) (P), Gabon, Gambia, Georgia (B) (NB) (P), Germany (B) (P), Ghana, Gibraltar (NB), Greece (B) (NB) (P), Guadeloupe, Guam (NB), Guinea, Guinea-bissau (B), Hong Kong (China) (B), Hungary (B) (P), India, Indonesia, Iraq (B) (NB) (P), Ireland (B) (NB), Israel (B) (NB), Italy (B) (NB) (P), Japan, Jordan (B) (NB) (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B) (NB), Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Martinique, Mauritania, Micronesia [Federated States of] (NB), Moldova [Republic of] (B), Montenegro (B) (NB) (P), Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands (B) (NB), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea (B), Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland (B), Portugal (B) (NB), Qatar, Romania (B) (NB) (P), Russia (European) (B) (P), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia (NB), Senegal, Serbia (B) (NB) (P), Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B), Slovenia (NB), Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain (B) (NB) (P), Sri Lanka, St Kitts And Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic (B), Taiwan (China), Tanzania [United Republic of] (B), Thailand, Timor-Leste (B) (NB), Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey (B) (NB), Turkmenistan (B), Uganda (B), Ukraine (B) (NB) (P), United Arab Emirates (NB) (P), United Kingdom (B) (NB), USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Vagrant to Canada, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Finland, Guyana, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mongolia, Norway, Puerto Rico, Sâo Tomé e Principe, St Pierre and Miquelon, Sweden.
Australia generally, especially in the north and east, from about Perth, WA through to about Port Augusta, SA, including Tasmania.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 659,000 - 3,140,000 (2010).
Status LC
Wetland degradation and loss through drainage for agriculture, changes in management practices and contamination from agricultural and industrial operations are the main threats.
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) [XC795967]
by Geoff Carey from Mai Po Nature Reserve, New Territories, Hong Kong, China (alarm call, flight call)
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) [XC333952]
by Jos\u00e9 Carlos Sires from salinas de bonanza, sanl\u00facar de barrameda, c\u00e1diz, andaluc\u00eda, Spain (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
October - February in south-east, March - April in north.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Nest
A platform composed of sticks, placed in the branches of a tree growing in or near the edge of water. In colonies, often in assocaiation with other wading birds.
Eggs (Guide)
Up to 5, usually 3 or 4; bright blue-green; oval; about 43 x 31 mm. Incubation: about 21 - 25 days; by both sexes.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 45 - 50 days. Fed by both parents by regurgitation.
Subspecies
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) and Dimorphic Egret (Egretta dimorpha) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) have been lumped into Egretta garzetta following Kushlan and Hancock (2005). Also lumped by some into Egretta garzetta is Western Reef Egret (Egretta gularis), but this is under review by the BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766) - Palearctic, from France, Spain and north-western Africa east to Korea and Japan. Scattered in rest of Africa, Middle East, India and south-east Asia.
nigripes (Temminck, 1840) - Islands of south-eastern Asia and south-western Pacific.
immaculata (Gould, 1846) - Northern and eastern Australia and regular in New Zealand.
gularis (Bosc, 1792) - Coastal western Africa, from Mauritania to Gabon. Sometimes considered a subspecies of Little Egret (Egretta garzetta). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Western Reef Egret (Egretta gularis).
schistacea (Ehrenberg, 1828) - Coastal eastern Africa to Red Sea, Persian Gulf, western, southern and south-eastern India. Sometimes considered a subspecies of Little Egret (Egretta garzetta). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Western Reef Egret (Egretta gularis).
dimorpha Hartert, 1914 - Eastern, Madagascar. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Dimorphic Egret (Egretta dimorpha).
Similar Species
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) which is smaller, stockier, and has a shorter, thicker neck, with a yellow bill (never black), Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia) which is larger, and usually has a yellow bill, but when with dark bill does not have lanceolate nuchal plumes, and lacks any yellow on the feet, a white-morph of Eastern Reef Egret (Egretta sacra) which has a shorter thicker bill, greenish-yellow in color, with a dusky tip, and dark greenish legs and feet.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
More... see more information (images, calls, videos etc)
(27Kb) © ? (
BirdLife International Species Factsheet