Animal
Great egret
The great egret is a tall white bird. It has long legs and a long neck. It stands very still in the water. Then it grabs a fish with its yellow beak.
The great egret is a tall, all-white heron that lives in wetlands on every continent except Antarctica. It wades slowly through shallow water, waits, then strikes like lightning to catch fish. Once nearly wiped out in the United States by hunters who wanted its lacy feathers, it made a remarkable comeback.
Ardea alba is a large white heron of inland and coastal wetlands found across the tropics and warm temperate regions of every continent but Antarctica. A patient wade-and-strike hunter, it nests in colonies. Nearly wiped out in the United States by the 19th-century plume trade, it recovered under protection and is now Least Concern.
Photo: JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the great egret
The great egret is a big white bird.
It has a long neck, long black legs and a sharp yellow beak. It lives near water and eats fish.
The great egret is a large, all-white member of the heron family. It is about 89 to 104 centimeters long from bill to tail, with a long, curving neck, a sharp yellow bill and long black legs. Its wings stretch about 1.4 meters from tip to tip.
Great egrets can grow long, lacy feathers called plumes. Those beautiful feathers nearly wiped them out in the United States, because people once hunted egrets to decorate hats. Today the great egret is a symbol of bird protection.
Ardea alba is a large heron, 89 to 104 centimeters long with a wingspan of about 1.4 meters (Audubon), entirely white with a yellow bill and black legs. It was once placed in its own genus, Casmerodius, and some authorities, following Christidis and Boles (2008), treat the eastern populations as a separate species, Ardea modesta; the IUCN keeps them all in Ardea alba.
The IUCN's 2025 assessment estimates 1.6 to 2.4 million great egrets worldwide (about 1.1 to 1.6 million mature birds), with a stable overall trend.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.89 to 1.04 m
- Wingspan
- 1.4 m
Where it lives
Great egrets live near water all over the world.
They wade in marshes, ponds, rivers, lakes and by the sea. You might even see one at a park pond!
Great egrets live on every continent except Antarctica. They are found in almost any kind of wetland: marshes, lakes, ponds, rivers, flooded fields, rice paddies, mudflats, mangroves and lagoons by the sea.
Egrets that live in warm places often stay all year. Those that nest in colder northern places, in North America, Europe and Asia, fly south for the winter to places where the water does not freeze.
The IUCN lists the great egret in all kinds of inland and coastal wetlands: river margins, lake shores, marshes, floodplains, damp meadows, rice fields, ditches, aquaculture ponds, reservoirs and sewage works inland, and salt-lake shallows, saltpans, mudflats, mangroves, saltmarshes, seagrass flats, coral reefs, lagoons and estuaries on the coast.
All populations disperse after breeding. Tropical breeders are sedentary or move with the rains, while Palearctic and Nearctic populations migrate; in places such as the Palearctic winter or Australian droughts, birds shift toward the coast.
Continents
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Wetlands across much of the world: the Americas from southern Canada to Argentina, Africa, southern and eastern Europe, much of Asia, and Australia and New Zealand. The IUCN lists all these countries as breeding or year-round range; egrets live only near water in each.
Places: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Netherlands, N. Macedonia, Russia, Spain, Timor-Leste and 130 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Countries where the IUCN lists great egrets only outside the breeding season or on passage.
Places: Afghanistan, Belgium, Belize, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Portugal and 9 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Netherlands, Australia, France, Taiwan, India, Canada, Mexico and 164 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
What it eats
Great egrets eat mostly fish.
They also eat frogs, crabs and bugs. An egret stands very still, then shoots its beak into the water to grab a fish.
Great egrets eat mostly fish, but they also catch frogs, salamanders, snakes, crayfish and other crustaceans, and water insects. In dry fields they eat grasshoppers, lizards and small rodents.
Their hunting style is all about patience. An egret stands still or walks very slowly through shallow water, waiting for a fish to swim close. Then it strikes with a lightning-fast jab of its long, sharp bill.
In aquatic habitats the diet is fish, amphibians, snakes, aquatic insects and crustaceans; in drier habitats terrestrial insects, lizards, small birds and mammals become more important (IUCN). Audubon adds grasshoppers and rodents in open fields and notes the capture of small rails.
Great egrets hunt mainly by standing or slowly walking in shallow water and striking with a quick thrust of the bill. They feed by day but are most active at dawn and dusk, and on coasts their feeding follows the tides. Outside the breeding season they may feed alone, in small loose groups or, where food is plentiful, in flocks of hundreds alongside other herons and ibises.
Did you know?
Egrets sometimes feed with herons and ibises.
Great egrets sometimes feed in flocks with other herons and ibises, and sleep in trees with other birds at night.
Where food is abundant, flocks of hundreds may form, and night roosts in trees are often shared with other species.
An amazing body
The egret's long legs let it walk in the water.
Its long neck shoots out fast to catch fish. Its feathers are white all over.
Everything about a great egret helps it fish. Long black legs let it wade into the water. Its long neck is folded into an S-shape and can shoot forward in an instant. Its long, sharp yellow bill grabs slippery fish.
Look at the long, lacy feathers trailing behind the egret in the photo. These plumes are the feathers people once wanted for fancy hats.
The great egret is built for wade-and-strike foraging: long black legs, a long S-curved neck that can extend rapidly, and a long, dagger-like yellow bill (Audubon). Plumage is white throughout.
Long, lacy plumes, like those trailing behind the bird in the photo, were the egret's downfall: in the late 1800s these plumes were prized for fashion, and plume hunters nearly wiped out great egrets in the United States (Audubon); the IUCN notes this persecution is no longer a threat.
Growing up
Great egrets build stick nests in trees near water.
The mother lays three or four pale blue-green eggs. Both parents keep them warm and feed the chicks.
Great egrets nest in groups called colonies, often with other herons and wading birds. They build nests of sticks in trees, bushes or reeds, usually over water, and sometimes reuse old nests.
The female lays 3 or 4 pale blue-green eggs, sometimes as few as 1 or as many as 6. Both parents keep the eggs warm for about 23 to 26 days and bring food for the chicks. At about 3 weeks the chicks start climbing around the nest, and they can fly at 6 to 7 weeks.
Great egrets typically breed in colonies of tens or hundreds, occasionally a thousand pairs, sometimes mixed with other species (one Australian colony held 450 egret pairs among over 3,000 nests). Nests of sticks and vegetation are usually 1 to 15 meters above water in trees, bushes, bamboo or reedbeds, often less than a meter apart (IUCN). Temperate breeders nest mainly in spring and summer; tropical breeders time nesting to food supply.
Clutches are usually 3 or 4 pale blue-green eggs (range 1 to 6), incubated by both parents for 23 to 26 days. Both parents feed the young by regurgitation; chicks clamber out of the nest at about 3 weeks and fly at 6 to 7 weeks (Audubon).
A patient hunter
Great egrets look for food in the daytime.
At night they sleep in trees near the water, often with other birds.
Great egrets hunt in the daytime and are busiest at dawn and dusk. They may feed on their own or with other egrets, herons and ibises.
At night they roost, or rest, in trees beside lakes and rivers or in mangroves, often with other kinds of birds. In North America, some egrets wander far to the north in late summer before heading south for the winter.
Great egrets are diurnal but most active at dawn and dusk, and roost at night in trees by lakes, rivers or mangroves, often with other species (IUCN). They may forage alone, in small groups of about 12 to 50, or in flocks of hundreds where food is abundant.
After breeding, all populations disperse, and Audubon notes that great egrets in North America often wander far north in late summer before migrating to places where water stays open in winter.
Did you know?
An egret can stand very still for a long time to catch a fish.
Great egrets often stand still or walk very slowly in shallow water, waiting for a fish to come close before striking.
Wait-and-strike hunting, standing or slowly walking in shallow water, is the great egret's main foraging method.
A great comeback
Long ago, people hunted great egrets for their pretty feathers.
Then people made rules to protect them. Now there are lots of great egrets again!
In the late 1800s, great egrets were hunted for their beautiful plumes, which were used to decorate hats. In the United States they were nearly wiped out. Early conservationists fought to stop the killing and protect nesting colonies, and the egrets came back.
Because of this comeback, the great egret became the symbol of the National Audubon Society, a bird protection group. Today it is listed as Least Concern, but it still needs healthy wetlands.
The IUCN's 2025 global assessment lists the great egret as Least Concern with a stable trend: a slight decline in North America and a suspected increase in Europe. The main threat is the degradation and loss of wetlands through drainage, grazing, clearing, burning, increased salinity, groundwater extraction and invasive plants; in Madagascar, colonies may be declining because eggs and chicks are collected.
The species is protected under the EU Birds Directive, the Bern Convention and the Convention on Migratory Species (through AEWA). Conservation centers on protecting colonies from disturbance and managing water and contaminants at feeding areas; an artificial nesting island in France's Camargue attracted breeding pairs.
IUCN Red List
How is the great egret doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3
Amazing facts
-
The great egret is the symbol of a big bird protection group.
After coming back from near disappearance, the great egret became the symbol of the National Audubon Society.
Its recovery after the plume trade made the great egret the emblem of the National Audubon Society (Audubon).
-
An egret can stand very still for a long time to catch a fish.
Great egrets often stand still or walk very slowly in shallow water, waiting for a fish to come close before striking.
Wait-and-strike hunting, standing or slowly walking in shallow water, is the great egret's main foraging method.
-
Egret eggs are pale blue-green.
Great egret eggs are pale blue-green, and a nest usually holds 3 or 4 of them.
Clutches of 3 or 4 (range 1 to 6) pale blue-green eggs are incubated by both parents for 23 to 26 days.
-
Egrets sometimes feed with herons and ibises.
Great egrets sometimes feed in flocks with other herons and ibises, and sleep in trees with other birds at night.
Where food is abundant, flocks of hundreds may form, and night roosts in trees are often shared with other species.
Words to know
- heron
- a long-legged, long-necked wading bird that eats fish and other animals
- wade
- to walk through shallow water
- plumes
- long, showy feathers
- colony
- a group of birds nesting close together
- roost
- a place where birds rest or sleep
- wetland
- land that is wet or covered by shallow water, like a marsh
Discovery challenge
-
How does a great egret catch a fish?
How does a great egret usually hunt?
What is the great egret's main foraging method?
- It stands still, then strikes with its bill
- It dives from high in the sky
- It digs in the sand with its feet
Show the answer
It stands still, then strikes with its bill
It waits very still, then grabs the fish with its beak.
It stands or walks slowly in shallow water, then strikes with a quick jab of its bill.
Standing or slow walking in shallow water followed by a rapid thrust of the bill.
-
Why did people hunt egrets long ago?
Why were great egrets hunted in the late 1800s?
What drove the near-loss of great egrets in the United States in the late 1800s?
- For their feathers to decorate hats
- Because they ate crops
- To keep them as pets
Show the answer
For their feathers to decorate hats
People wanted their pretty feathers for hats.
Their lacy plumes were used to decorate fashionable hats.
Plume hunting for the fashion trade; protection of colonies later allowed recovery.
-
What color is a great egret?
What color are a great egret's feathers?
How would you describe the great egret's plumage?
- Bright blue
- All white
- Striped black and yellow
Show the answer
All white
A great egret is white all over.
It is white all over, with a yellow bill and black legs.
Entirely white, with a yellow bill, black legs and, in breeding season, long lacy plumes.
-
Where do great egrets live?
On how many continents do great egrets live?
Which continent is the only one without great egrets?
- Only in Africa
- On every continent except Antarctica
- Only in North America
Show the answer
On every continent except Antarctica
They live near water almost everywhere in the world.
They live on every continent except Antarctica.
Antarctica is the only continent without great egrets; they occur on all the others.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Australia
Australia is a country and the smallest continent, surrounded by ocean in the Southern Hemisphere. Much of its middle is dry and flat, most people live near the coast, and its animals include kangaroos, koalas and the platypus, a mammal that lays eggs.
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Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
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Watch
Country
Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a country on the eastern side of the Balkan Peninsula, with the Danube River to the north and the Black Sea to the east. Mountains cross it from west to east, and about 6.4 million people lived there at the end of 2025.
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Roseate spoonbill
The roseate spoonbill is a bright pink wading bird with a long, flat bill shaped like a spoon. It sweeps its bill from side to side through shallow water and grabs the shrimp or small fish it feels. Its pink color comes from the food it eats.
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Scarlet ibis
The scarlet ibis is a bright red wading bird of South America, red all over except for black wingtips. It probes mud and shallow water with its long, curved bill for crabs, crayfish and insects, and its color comes from pigments in its food.
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Australia
Australia is a country and the smallest continent, surrounded by ocean in the Southern Hemisphere. Much of its middle is dry and flat, most people live near the coast, and its animals include kangaroos, koalas and the platypus, a mammal that lays eggs.
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Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
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Watch
Country
Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a country on the eastern side of the Balkan Peninsula, with the Danube River to the north and the Black Sea to the east. Mountains cross it from west to east, and about 6.4 million people lived there at the end of 2025.
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Adélie penguin
The Adélie penguin is a medium-sized penguin, about 70 centimeters tall, with a black back, a white front and a bright white ring around each eye. It breeds in summer on rocky, ice-free ground all around Antarctica, building nests of pebbles, and spends the winter far out at sea among the pack ice.
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African fish eagle
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe how the great egret's legs, neck and bill help it catch fish.
- Explain the plume trade and how protection helped egrets recover.
- Recognize the many kinds of wetlands egrets use.
- Understand why wetland protection matters for birds.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why is patience a good hunting strategy for a bird that eats fish?
- How did fashion once put a bird in danger, and what changed?
- What wetlands near you might an egret visit?
Try at home or in class
- Play 'egret': stand still on one spot and see how long you can wait without moving before 'striking' at a paper fish.
- Measure 1.4 meters with string to see how wide a great egret's wings are.
Key vocabulary: heron, wade, plumes, colony, roost, wetland
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Ardea alba, global Red List assessment 2025 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Great Egret , National Audubon Society, Guide to North American Birds
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 28, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.