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GREAT EGRET FACTS |
Description
The Great Egret is a large white water bird with yellow bill. The neck is about one and a half times as long as the body. It has dark grey or black legs. The bill becomes very dark almost black in the breeding season, and the skin on face becomes greenish. It also grows long plumes on its back during the breeding season. Immatures are similar to adults with darker tip to the bill.
Other Names
Large Egret
Size
80cm
Habitat
wetlands with shallow water, wet grasslands
Food
Feeds in shallow water by stabbing at prey with its long beak. It eats molluscs, crustaceans, frogs, insects
Breeding
The nest is a large platform of sticks built in a tree overhanging the water. Lays 2-6 eggs.
Range
common across Australia except most arid areas
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Ciconiiformes | | Family: | Ardeidae | | Genus: | Ardea | | Species: | alba | | Common Name: | Great Egret |
Relatives in same Genus
Cattle Egret (A. ibis)
Intermediate Egret (A. intermedia)
Pacific Heron (A. pacifica)
Pied Heron (A. picata)
Great-billed Heron (A. sumatrana)
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