Other Scientific Names
Ardea alba [AOU checklist (1998 + supplements)], Ardea alba [SACC (2005)], Egretta alba [Cramp and Simmons (1977-1994)], Egretta alba [Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993)], Egretta alba [Stotz et al. (1996)], Egretta alba [Turbott (1990)]
Other Names (World)
Great White Egret, Great Egret, Large Egret, Great American Egret, Large Heron, White Egret, White Crane, Great White Heron
Afghanistan (NB), Albania (B) (NB) (P), Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia (B), Austria (B) (NB), Azerbaijan (B) (NB), Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus (B) (P), Belgium (NB), Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria (B) (NB), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada (B) (P), Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China (mainland), Christmas Island, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Costa Rica, Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B) (NB) (P), Cuba, Cyprus (NB) (P), Czech Republic (NB) (P), Denmark (P), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), France (B) (NB) (P), French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia (B), Germany (P), Ghana, Greece (B) (NB) (P), Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam (NB), Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-bissau (B), Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong (China) (B), Hungary (B) (NB) (P), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (NB), Iraq (NB) (P), Israel (NB) (P), Italy (B) (NB) (P), Jamaica (NB), Japan, Jordan (NB) (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan (NB), Laos, Latvia (B), Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B) (NB), Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali (B), Martinique, Mauritania, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia [Federated States of] (NB), Moldova [Republic of] (B) (NB) (P), Mongolia (B), Montenegro (B) (NB) (P), Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands (B) (NB), Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand (B), Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea (B), Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Oman (NB), Pakistan, Palau (NB), Panama, Papua New Guinea (B), Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland (B) (NB) (P), Portugal (NB), Puerto Rico (B), Qatar, Romania (B) (NB) (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B) (NB) (P), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal (B), Serbia (B) (NB) (P), Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B) (NB) (P), Slovenia (NB), Solomon Islands (B), Somalia, South Africa (B), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Korea, Spain (B) (NB), Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland (NB), Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan (China), Tajikistan (B), Tanzania [United Republic of] (B), Thailand, Timor-Leste (B) (NB), Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia (NB), Turkey (B) (NB), Turkmenistan (B), Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine (B) (NB) (P), United Arab Emirates, Uruguay (B), USA (B), Uzbekistan (B), Venezuela, Vietnam (NB), Virgin Islands (British) (B) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (B) (NB), Yemen, Zambia (B), Zimbabwe.
Vagrant to British Indian Ocean Territory, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Finland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, New Caledonia, Norway, Sâo Tomé e Principe, Seychelles, St Helena, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), Sweden, United Kingdom.
Population
Estimated population is 590,000 - 2,200,000 (2010).
Status LC
Loss and degradation of wetland habitat through drainage, grazing, clearing, burning, are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Habits
Usually solitary, but also in pairs and small flocks.
Food
In aquatic habitats, fish, amphibians, snakes, aquatic insects and crustaceans. In drier habitats, terrestrial insects, lizards, small birds and mammals.
Great Egret (Ardea alba) [XC605060]
by Sunny Tseng from Budai Township, Taiwan (flight call)
Great Egret (Ardea alba) [XC403078]
by Kent Livezey from Grote Zandput, Dessel, Antwerpen, Belgium (alarm call?)
Nest
A platform composed of sticks and vegetation, placed in the branches of a tree growing in or near water. In colonies, often in association with other wading birds.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 6; pale green-blue; oval; about 53 x 38 mm. Incubation: about 25 days; by both sexes.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 42 days.
Subspecies
Casmerodius albus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) is retained as a cross-regional species contra Christidis and Boles (2008) who move Casmerodius albus into the genus Ardea and split it into two cross-regional species Ardea alba and Ardea modesta (note gender agreement of specific name for alba).
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
alba (Linnaeus, 1758) - Central Europe to central Asia, south to Iran. Winters northern and central Africa and Persian Gulf to southern China and southern Korea.
modesta Gray, JE, 1831 - India, south-eastern Asia, Japan and Korea south through Indonesia to Australia and New Zealand. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Eastern Great Egret (Ardea modestus).
melanorhynchos (Wagler, 1827) - Africa south of Sahara, Madagascar.
egretta Gmelin, JF, 1789 - Northern, central and southern America, from northern USA to central Argentina.
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
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet