Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica (NB), Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands (NB), USA (B), Venezuela.
Vagrant to Virgin Islands (British), Virgin Islands (U.S.).
Population
Estimated population is 10,000 - 19,999 (2010) and decreasing.
Status NT
Possibly commercial exploitation of coastlines, and predation are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Mainly on small fish, frogs, tadpoles and crustaceans.
Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) [XC130840]
by Andrew Spencer from Green Island, Laguna Madre, Cameron Co., Texas, United States (call)
Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) [XC452975]
by Isain Contreras Rodr\u00edguez from South Padre Is, Birding and Nature Center, Cameron County, Texas, United States (call)
Nest
A platform of sticks, in a tree or shrub, in swamps or magroves. In colonies, often with other heron species.
Subspecies
White morph formerly considered separate species, Peale's Egret (Ardea pealii).
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
rufescens (Gmelin, 1789) - Southern USA and eastern Mexico through West Indies to northern Colombia and northern Venezuela.