Home/Species/ Great Egret

Ardea alba

Linnaeus, 1758

Great Egret

G5Secure Found in 77 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103493

Element CodeABNGA04040

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderPelecaniformes

FamilyArdeidae

GenusArdea

Synonyms

Casmerodius albus(Linnaeus, 1758)

Other Common Names

Garça-Branca-Grande (PT) Garza Blanca, Guyratî (ES) Grande aigrette (FR) great egret (EN)

Concept Reference

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.

Taxonomic Comments

Formerly included in the genus Casmerodius (see AOU 1995). Has been included in genus Egretta by some authors (AOU 1998).

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2016-04-06

Change Date1996-11-20

Edition Date1995-05-04

Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Rank Reasons

Secure due primarily to the very large range, though the amount of suitable nesting habitat is relatively restricted.

Range Extent Comments

BREEDS: in North America locally from southern Oregon and southern Idaho south through California, Nevada, and southwestern Arizona, and from southeastern Saskatchewan, southwestern Manitoba, central Minnesota, southwestern Wisconsin, central Illinois, southern Indiana, southern Ontario, northern Ohio, Vermont (probably), and Maine south through the Gulf states (and west to eastern Colorado, southern New Mexico, and south-central Texas), along both coasts of Mexico (interior locally), and through the Bahamas, Antilles, Middle America, and South America to southern Chile and southern Argentina. Widespread also in Old World. NORTHERN WINTER: occurs regularly north to North Carolina, southern U.S, and California; south through breeding range to southern South America; also Old World. In the U.S., areas with the highest winter densities include the Chassahowitzka NWR on the Gulf coast of Florida, the Sabine NWR on the coast near the Louisiana-Texas border, the southern Colorado River near the Imperial and Cibola refuges, and Humboldt Bay NWR in northern California (Root 1988). Wanders irregularly outside usual range; a few times to Hawaii.

Ecology & Habitat

Description

A large wading bird with all-white plumage; long black legs and feet; a long neck; and a long, straight, pointed, yellow bill; in breeding plumage, long white plumes extend from back beyond end of tail; average length 99 cm, wingspan 130 cm (NGS 1983).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Differs from most other white herons in larger size (averages 23 cm longer than reddish egret, 38 cm longer than snowy egret), unicolored yellowish bill, and all-black legs and feet. Differs from the white form of the great blue heron in having black legs and feet (vs. yellowish).

Habitat

Marshes, swampy woods, tidal estuaries, lagoons, mangroves, streams, lakes, and ponds; also fields and meadows.

Nests primarily in tall trees, usually with other colonial water birds; in woods or thickets near water. See Spendelow and Patton (1988) for further details and information on geographic variation in nesting habitat. Returns to the same colony sites year after year.

Ecology

Nonbreeding: may gather in groups but usually forages singly, spreading out over available area.

In Florida, nestlings infected by the nematode EUSTRONGYLIDES IGNOTUS experienced higher mortality rates than did uninfected nestlings (Spalding et al. 1994).

Reproduction

Clutch size is 1-6 (usually 3-4) in the north, 2-3 in the south. Incubation lasts 23-25 days, by both sexes. Young fly at about 6 weeks. Nests solitarily or in small to large colonies (Harrison 1979). In Florida, failure of nests was associated with high rainfall (Frederick and Collopy 1989). May lay another clutch if eggs are lost during incubation (Byrd and Johnston 1991).

Terrestrial Habitats

Grassland/herbaceous

Palustrine Habitats

HERBACEOUS WETLANDSCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian

Other Nations (2)

CanadaN3B

Province	Rank	Native
Saskatchewan	SNA	Yes
Ontario	S2B,S3M	Yes
Manitoba	S3B	Yes
Quebec	S3B	Yes

United StatesN5B,N5N

Province	Rank	Native
Kansas	S3B	Yes
North Carolina	S4B,S4N	Yes
Nebraska	SNRN	Yes
Minnesota	SNRB	Yes
Iowa	S3B,S4N	Yes
Indiana	S1B	Yes
Massachusetts	S2B,S4N	Yes
Rhode Island	S1B	Yes
Mississippi	S5B	Yes
Arizona	S1B,S4N	Yes
New Mexico	S3B,S4N	Yes
South Dakota	S3B	Yes
District of Columbia	S4N	Yes
Washington	S3B	Yes
Arkansas	S2B	Yes
Navajo Nation	S1N	Yes
Maryland	S3B	Yes
Georgia	S4	Yes
North Dakota	SNA	Yes
Illinois	S3	Yes
Colorado	S1B	Yes
Texas	S5B	Yes
Alabama	S4	Yes
California	S4	Yes
Oregon	S3	Yes
Florida	S4	Yes
Maine	S1B,S3N	Yes
Virginia	S2B,S3N	Yes
New Jersey	S4B,S4N	Yes
New Hampshire	SNA	Yes
Connecticut	S2B	Yes
Louisiana	S4N,S5B	Yes
Delaware	S1B	Yes
South Carolina	S4	Yes
Pennsylvania	S2B,S4N,S3M	Yes
New York	S4	Yes
Kentucky	S2B	Yes
Oklahoma	SNRB	Yes
Ohio	S1	Yes
Idaho	S2B	Yes
Michigan	S2	Yes
Nevada	S4B	Yes
West Virginia	S1N	Yes
Tennessee	S2B,S3N	Yes
Wisconsin	S2B	Yes
Vermont	S1B	Yes
Missouri	S3	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
11 - Climate change & severe weather	Large - small	Unknown	Moderate (short-term)
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alteration	Large - small	Unknown	Moderate (short-term)

Roadless Areas (77)

Arizona (6)

Area	Forest	Acres
Blind Indian Creek	Prescott National Forest	26,847
Butterfly Roadless Area	Coronado National Forest	42,296
Goldfield	Tonto National Forest	15,257
Horse Mesa	Tonto National Forest	9,146
Pinaleno	Coronado National Forest	130,920
Tumacacori	Coronado National Forest	44,594

California (41)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bear Mountain	Los Padres National Forest	913
Cajon	San Bernardino National Forest	7,548
Camuesa	Los Padres National Forest	8,209
Channell	Sequoia National Forest	45,429
Circle Mountain	San Bernardino National Forest	6,375
City Creek	San Bernardino National Forest	9,997
Coyote North	Inyo National Forest	11,932
Crystal Creek	San Bernardino National Forest	6,783
Cucamonga A	Angeles National Forest	1,249
Cucamonga B	San Bernardino National Forest	11,933
Cucamonga C	San Bernardino National Forest	4,106
Deep Creek	San Bernardino National Forest	23,869
Devil's Gate (CA)	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	9,946
Diable	Los Padres National Forest	19,597
Dry Lakes	Los Padres National Forest	17,043
Excelsior (CA)	Inyo National Forest	45,607
Fish Canyon	Angeles National Forest	29,886
Glass Mountain	Inyo National Forest	52,867
Greenhorn Creek	Sequoia National Forest	28,226
Ishi	Lassen National Forest	21,805
Juncal	Los Padres National Forest	12,289
Keddie Ridge	Lassen National Forest	3,864
Malduce Buckhorn	Los Padres National Forest	14,177
Matilija	Los Padres National Forest	5,218
Mill Peak	San Bernardino National Forest	7,884
Mt. Jackson	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	20,721
Nordhoff	Los Padres National Forest	12,031
Red Mountain	Angeles National Forest	8,034
Salt Creek	Angeles National Forest	11,022
San Gabriel Add	Angeles National Forest	2,527
San Sevaine	San Bernardino National Forest	6,866
Santa Cruz	Los Padres National Forest	21,182
Sespe - Frazier	Los Padres National Forest	106,910
Sheep Mountain	Angeles National Forest	21,098
Tequepis	Los Padres National Forest	9,080
Timbered Crater	Lassen National Forest	4,096
Tule	Angeles National Forest	9,861
Westfork	Angeles National Forest	4,407
White Ledge	Los Padres National Forest	18,632
Wildhorse	Cleveland National Forest	1,483
Woolstaff	Sequoia National Forest	41,445

Florida (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954
Farles Prairie	Ocala National Forest	1,901

Idaho (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bear Creek	Caribou-Targhee National Forest	118,582

Michigan (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Government Island	Hiawatha National Forest	225

Nevada (4)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bald Mtn.	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	41,598
Jobs Peak (NV)	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	1,342
Pearl Peak	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	71,405
South Schell	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	125,614

North Carolina (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Pond Pine B	Croatan National Forest	2,961

Oregon (6)

Area	Forest	Acres
Hellhole	Umatilla National Forest	65,679
Sky Lakes A	Winema National Forest	3,940
Tahkenitch	Siuslaw National Forest	5,799
Tenmile	Siuslaw National Forest	10,818
Umpqua Spit	Siuslaw National Forest	2,090
Woahink	Siuslaw National Forest	5,309

South Carolina (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Hellhole Ext	Francis Marion National Forest	891

South Dakota (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Indian Creek	Buffalo Gap National Grassland	24,666

Tennessee (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Rogers Ridge	Cherokee National Forest	4,738

Texas (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Big Creek	National Forests in Texas	1,447

Utah (4)

Area	Forest	Acres
418025	Uinta National Forest	32,698
Casto Bluff	Dixie National Forest	87,466
Cottonwood	Dixie National Forest	6,754
Horse Valley	Dixie National Forest	13,624

Vermont (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Griffith Lake 09084	Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests	1,833

Virginia (4)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bear Creek	Jefferson National Forest	18,274
Mottesheard (VA)	Jefferson National Forest	2,596
North Mountain	Jefferson National Forest	8,377
Seng Mountain	Jefferson National Forest	6,428

West Virginia (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Middle Mountain	Monongahela National Forest	19,020
North Mountain Hopeville	Monongahela National Forest	6,525

References (39)

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