# Egret
An egret is any of several species of long-legged wading birds in the heron family Ardeidae, order Pelecaniformes, characterized by predominantly white plumage and, in breeding season, showy plumes called aigrettes[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview) • [2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id). The name is descriptive rather than taxonomic: egrets are scattered across the heron family tree, and some species called herons are more closely related to egrets than egrets are to each other. The Great Egret (*Ardea alba*) sits in the same genus as the Great Blue Heron, while the Snowy Egret belongs to the genus *Egretta*[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview) • [2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Family | Ardeidae (herons, egrets, and bitterns), order Pelecaniformes[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview) |
| Great Egret size | Length 94–104 cm, weight about 1,000 g, wingspan 131–145 cm[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id) |
| Plume trade | Great Egrets were hunted nearly to extinction in parts of their range for their plumes in the late nineteenth century, prompting some of the first laws protecting birds[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview) |
| Little Egret status | IUCN Least Concern; 430,000–2,100,000 mature individuals; overall population trend stable[3](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T62774969A154819214.en) |
| Chinese Egret status | IUCN Vulnerable; 4,000–6,000 mature individuals; population decreasing[4](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T22696977A154698211.en) |
| Cattle Egret expansion | Southern African reporting rate rose from 0.38 in the 1980s to 0.60 by the 2010s, a 58% relative gain[5](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74300) |
| Longevity | The oldest known Great Egret was 22 years, 10 months old, banded in Ohio[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview) |
## What makes an egret
Egrets are herons with white feathers. The white plumage is the trait that unites birds bearing the name, but it does not mark a single lineage; white coloration has evolved repeatedly within Ardeidae, and several dark herons have white morphs or white juvenile stages[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id). The Great Egret is a tall, long-legged wading bird with a long, S-curved neck and a daggerlike bill; in flight it tucks its neck in and trails its legs behind the short tail[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id).
**Breeding plumage** is the other defining feature. In the breeding season Great Egrets grow long back plumes, the aigrettes, and a patch of facial skin turns neon green[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview). Courtship displays include raising these plumes, bowing the head, and stretching the neck[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id).
## Classification and the naming problem
The common names "heron" and "egret" do not track ancestry. The Great Egret is placed in *Ardea* alongside the Gray Heron and Great Blue Heron, while the Snowy Egret, Little Egret, and Reddish Egret are placed in *Egretta*[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id). The Cattle Egret, once given its own genus *Bubulcus*, is small and structurally unlike the large *Ardea* herons, yet genetics place it within that genus[5](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74300).
Species limits among egrets have also shifted. The Intermediate Egret complex has been split into three species, and the Cattle Egret has been treated as one to three species depending on the authority, with subspecies boundaries still debated[5](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74300). The Great Egret itself spans subspecies groups with distinct breeding appearance: American birds have an orange-yellow bill, African birds a black bill with blue-green lores, the *alba* group from central Europe to central Asia a blackish bill with greenish lores and yellowish to reddish legs, and the *modesta* group from South and [East Asia](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-asia) to Australia a black bill with dark legs washed pink or purplish[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id).
## Feeding behavior
Egrets hunt by stand-and-wait stalking. The Great Egret wades slowly through fresh or salt water, stands motionless watching for prey, then strikes with a rapid jab of its long neck and bill[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id). Fish are the primary food, supplemented by crustaceans, amphibians, and small mammals[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id). Great Egrets occasionally swim to capture prey or hover over the water and dip for fish[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview).
The Little Egret uses more active techniques. It shuffles a foot in shallow water to stir up aquatic prey, which it then takes in a lightning-fast movement, and it chases small fish with its wings raised; it also spreads one or both wings to shade the water while stalking[6](https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/little-egret/). A study of Little Egrets in central Japan found feeding tactics matched prey mobility: large, mobile fish were taken with stand-and-wait tactics, moderately mobile fish with walking and chasing, and slow-moving small fish, crayfish, and loach with walking without chasing. In lotus fields the birds held long-term feeding territories with distinctive boundaries, while along a river only stand-and-wait foragers excluded others from the immediate area[7](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjo1986/42/2/42_2_61/_article).
The Cattle Egret departed from the wetland mold. It forages mostly on invertebrates, particularly grasshoppers and other [Orthoptera](https://www.edgepedia.org/orthoptera) flushed by large mammals and farm machinery, and often feeds in grassland beside domestic cattle[5](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74300) • [6](https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/little-egret/).
## Colonial nesting
Egrets nest colonially, often in mixed-species heronries in trees and shrubs, though they forage alone[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id). Great Egrets typically place stick nests high in trees, often on islands isolated from mammalian predators such as raccoons, and in mixed colonies they are often the first species to arrive, their presence possibly inducing nesting by other species[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview) • [2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id). Little Egrets build scanty stick nests over water, with both sexes incubating the eggs[6](https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/little-egret/).
Nestling aggression shapes brood survival. Among Great Egrets, large chicks frequently kill their smaller siblings, a behavior called siblicide that is common among hawks, owls, and herons and is often a result of poor breeding conditions in a given year[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview).
## The plume trade and conservation history
In the late nineteenth century, egret plumes were prized for ladies' hats, and hunting drove the Great Egret nearly to extinction in parts of its range[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview). The crisis sparked conservation movements and some of the first laws to protect birds; the National Audubon Society, founded to protect birds from being killed for their feathers, uses the Great Egret as its symbol[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview).
## Status of major species today
The Great Egret is listed by Cornell as Low Concern in North America, though its global population trend remains uncertain, likely due to limited data at subpopulation and regional levels[1](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview) • [8](https://www.birdlife.org.za/red-data-book/red-list/great-egret/).
The Little Egret is one of the most successful egrets, with an extremely large range across Africa, southern Eurasia, and beyond, and a global population estimated at 430,000 to 2,100,000 mature individuals with a stable overall trend[3](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T62774969A154819214.en).
The Chinese Egret (*Egretta eulophotes*) is the exception. Assessed as Vulnerable, it numbers 4,000 to 6,000 mature individuals, all in a single subpopulation along the East Asian flyway, and its decline is attributed principally to the reclamation of tidal mudflats and estuarine habitats for industry, infrastructure development, and aquaculture[4](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T22696977A154698211.en) • [9](https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/SSC-OP-047-Ko.pdf). It no longer breeds in Taiwan or Hong Kong, where it once did[4](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T22696977A154698211.en).
The Cattle Egret shows the opposite trajectory. Native to Africa, it has expanded to every continent except [Antarctica](https://www.edgepedia.org/antarctica) within just over a century, and in [Southern Africa](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-africa) its atlas reporting rate rose from 0.38 in the 1980s to 0.60 by the 2010s, a 58% relative gain[5](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74300). Its adaptability brings costs as well as benefits: reliance on anthropogenic food sources such as landfill sites may elevate exposure to pathogens, and the species is sensitive to organochlorine contamination, making it a sentinel at the wildlife–livestock–human interface[5](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74300).
## References
1. [Great Egret Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/overview)
2. [Great Egret Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id)
3. [BirdLife International (2025). Egretta garzetta, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T62774969A154819214.en)
4. [BirdLife International (2025). Egretta eulophotes, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T22696977A154698211.en)
5. [Sibanda et al. (2026). Population Status, Ecology and Conservation Challenges of Cattle Egrets, Ecology and Evolution](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74300)
6. [Little Egret, BirdLife Australia](https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/little-egret/)
7. [Yamada, K. (1994). Feeding Behaviour and Territoriality in the Little Egret, Japanese Journal of Ornithology 42(2): 61–75](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjo1986/42/2/42_2_61/_article)
8. [Great Egret, BirdLife South Africa Red Data Book](https://www.birdlife.org.za/red-data-book/red-list/great-egret/)
9. [IUCN Situation Analysis on East and Southeast Asian Intertidal Habitats](https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/SSC-OP-047-Ko.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Animals › Vertebrates › Birds › Seabirds and waterbirds*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license