Little egrets inhabit the margins of coastal and inland water habitats, preferring open areas with shallow fresh water. They are usually solitary except when roosting in trees or flying to roost. The liveliest hunters among the herons, they feed chiefly by walking through water and snapping at prey, or by running and agitating the water with their feet to disturb prey. They are colonial nesters, building near water, in trees and bushes or sometimes on rocks or cliffs. Colonies range from a few hundred nests up to a couple of thousand. usually in association with other herons.
Scientific name: Egretta garzetta
Rank: Species
In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.
Changing times
Poole Harbour hosts great gatherings of avocets and little egrets.
Poole Harbour hosts great gatherings of avocets and little egrets.
Here to stay
Little egrets have moved north to the UK in recent years and are now a firm birding fixture.
Little egrets have moved north to the UK in recent years and are now a firm birding fixture.
Spoon fed egret
A look at bird design and beak structure.
Iolo Williams studies how an egret and spoonbill feed in the Nevern Estuary in Pembrokshire, Wales. The birds may be similar in appearance but feed in completely different ways.
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The Little egret can be found in a number of locations including: Africa, Asia, Australia, China, Europe, Indian subcontinent, Mediterranean, United Kingdom, Wales, Ynys-hir nature reserve. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Little egret distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Year assessed: 2009
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) is a small white heron. It is the Old World counterpart to the very similar New World Snowy Egret.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. For more information on our use of Wikipedia please read our FAQ.
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.