Egrets ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|ɡ|r|ə|t|s}} {{Respell|EE|grəts}}) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build.

Biology

File:Flying great egret 1.jpg

File:Egrets in AP W IMG 4220.jpg, Andhra Pradesh, India]]

File:Great Egret in Yolo bypass wildlife area.webm in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, California]]

Egrets hold a separate group with bitterns and herons within the 74 species found in the bird family Ardeidae.{{cite web | url=https://hawaiiislandkauai.com/kauai-birds/types-of-egret | title=10 Types Of Egret | date=26 November 2024 }} Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea, which also contain other species named as herons rather than egrets. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology. The word "egret" comes from the French word aigrette that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the long, filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season (also called "egrets").

Several of the egrets have been reclassified from one genus to another in recent years; the great egret, for example, has been classified as a member of either Casmerodius, Egretta, or Ardea.

In the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, some of the world's egret species were endangered by relentless plume hunting, since hat makers in Europe and the United States demanded large numbers of egret plumes, leading to breeding birds being killed in many places around the world.{{cite web | url=https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/great-egret | title=Great Egret | date=13 November 2014 }}

Several Egretta species, including the eastern reef egret, the reddish egret, and the western reef egret, have two distinct colours, one of which is just white. The little blue heron has all-white juvenile plumage.

Species in taxonomic order

File:IMG 3819-01 El Qanater waterfalls.jpg from Egypt]]

Great egret or great white egret, Ardea alba
Great blue heron, Ardea herodias
Intermediate egret, Mesophoyx intermedia
Western cattle egret, Ardea ibis
Little egret Egretta garzetta
Snowy egret, Egretta thula
Reddish egret, Egretta rufescens
Slaty egret, Egretta vinaceigula
Black egret, Egretta ardesiaca
Chinese egret, Egretta eulophotes
Eastern reef egret or Pacific reef heron, Egretta sacra
Western reef egret or Western reef heron, Egretta gularis
Eastern cattle egret, Ardea coromanda

File:Egret At Malampuzha Garden.JPG, India]]

Habitat

Egrets inhabit all continents; although they typically avoid the coldest regions, arid deserts, and very high mountains. They hunt and live in both saltwater and freshwater marshes.{{cite web|last1=The Cornell Lab of Ornithology|title=Egret|url=http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Egret/id|website=All About Birds|publisher=Cornell University|access-date=11 August 2015}}

References

External links

{{wikispecies-inline|Ardeidae}}
[https://www.britannica.com/animal/egret Well written and illustrated Egret article Encyclopaedia Britannica]
[http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i1960id.html Great egret Ardea alba] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103052623/https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i1960id.html |date=2017-01-03 }}—USGS+24r5

Category:Bird common names