Daily Bird 2024: Great Egret

Great Egret photo by Patrick J. Lynch

Great Egret
Ardrea alba

A stately figure found in wetlands, lakes, and marshes, the Great Egret is a prominent sight during spring migration and through the breeding season. In winter, these birds journey as far south as the southern tip of Central America.

Good places to see them now include Connecticut Audubon’s Coastal Center at Milford Point, Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, .and Bluff Point State Park in Groton. But there are literally scores of places along the coast where you can see Great Egrets.

Great Egret should be an easy bird to add to you list if you’re participating in the Migration Magic Birdathon. As of this morning, 71 people have signed up! If you haven’t signed up yet, please click this blue button. You’ll have fun, and we’d love to have you participate.

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Great Egret is distinguished by its striking white plumage, which is especially impressive during breeding season. It is notably larger than Connecticut’s other common, white-feathered marsh bird, the Snowy Egret.

If the birds are by themselves and the size differences can’t be compared, look for the Great Egret’s large, pointed, yellow bill. The Snowy Egret’s bill is black. The Great Egret’s legs are black; the Snowy Egret has strikingly yellow feet.

In Connecticut, the Great Egret frequents marshes, wetlands, and aquatic systems, particularly along the coast. It nests on offshore islands often alongside Black-crowned Night-herons and Snowy Egrets. Chicks typically leave the nest less than a month after hatching.

Great Egrets stalk prey by wading slowly or standing motionless until an opportunity arises to strike with their powerful bills. Their diet ranges from fish to birds and small mammals.

Conservation status: Once on the brink of extirpation due to the demand for their feathers in the late 1800s, the Great Egret has made a remarkable recovery (the Connecticut Audubon Society was founded, in 1898, largely to work to end the killing of birds for their feathers).

The Great Egret is now of low conservation concern. But protecting foraging sites and safeguarding nesting areas from degradation and development remain vital.

Today’s Daily Bird was revised from the original, written by Genevieve Nuttall.