Enlish          -          Great Egret

Portuguese -          Garça-branca-grande

Latin             -          Ardea alba

The elegant Great Egret is a dazzling sight in many wetlands around the world. Slightly smaller than the Great Blue Heron, the Great Egret is still a large birds. Standing up to 1 m tall, and measure 80 to 104 cm in length and have a wingspan of 1.5m. Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. 

Great Egrets live in freshwater, brackish, and marine wetlands. During the breeding season they live in colonies in trees or shrubs with other waterbirds, The colonies are located on lakes, ponds, marshes, estuaries, impoundments, and islands. Great Egrets use similar habitats for migration stopover sites and wintering grounds. They hunt in marshes, swamps, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, impoundments, lagoons, tidal flats, canals, ditches, fish-rearing ponds, flooded farm fields, and sometimes upland habitats.

They feed on mainly small fish but also eats amphibians, reptiles, birds, small mammals and invertebrates such as crayfish, prawns, shrimp, polychaete worms, isopods, dragonflies and damselflies, beetles, giant water bugs, and grasshoppers. It hunts in belly-deep or shallower water in marine, brackish, and freshwater wetlands, alone or in groups. It wades as it searches for prey, or simply stands still to wait for prey to approach.

The male choices the nest site and builds a nest out of long sticks and twigs before pairing up with a female, and then both birds may finish building nest together, though the male sometimes finishes it himself. The nest is up to 3 feet across and 1 foot deep. It is lined with pliable plant material that dries to form a cup structure. They don’t typically reuse nests from year to year. The nest itself can be up to 100 feet off the ground, often over water, usually in or near the top of a shrub or tree. They occasionally nest on the ground or on artificial platforms.  The female lays between 1 to 6 Pale blue-green eggs. Eggs are Incubation for 23 to 26 days by both parents until hatched. Both parents feed the young by regurgitation. The Young may clamber out of nest at 3 weeks and are able to fly at 6-7 weeks. 

Great Egrets were hunted nearly to extinction for their plumes in the late nineteenth century, sparking conservation movements and some of the first laws to protect birds. Now, due to some committed conservation efforts the numbers of the Great Egret have increased.

Both photos were taken at - Ilha do Frade, Vitoria - Espirito Santo

Enlish          -          Great Egret

Portuguese -          Garça-branca-grande

Latin             -          Ardea alba

The elegant Great Egret is a dazzling sight in many wetlands around the world. Slightly smaller than the Great Blue Heron, the Great Egret is still a large birds. Standing up to 1 m tall, and measure 80 to 104 cm in length and have a wingspan of 1.5m. Apart from size, the great egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. 

Great Egrets live in freshwater, brackish, and marine wetlands. During the breeding season they live in colonies in trees or shrubs with other waterbirds, The colonies are located on lakes, ponds, marshes, estuaries, impoundments, and islands. Great Egrets use similar habitats for migration stopover sites and wintering grounds. They hunt in marshes, swamps, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, impoundments, lagoons, tidal flats, canals, ditches, fish-rearing ponds, flooded farm fields, and sometimes upland habitats.

They feed on mainly small fish but also eats amphibians, reptiles, birds, small mammals and invertebrates such as crayfish, prawns, shrimp, polychaete worms, isopods, dragonflies and damselflies, whirligig beetles, giant water bugs, and grasshoppers. It hunts in belly-deep or shallower water in marine, brackish, and freshwater wetlands, alone or in groups. It wades as it searches for prey, or simply stands still to wait for prey to approach.

The male choices the nest site and builds a nest out of long sticks and twigs before pairing up with a female, and then both birds may finish building nest together, though the male sometimes finishes it himself. The nest is up to 3 feet across and 1 foot deep. It is lined with pliable plant material that dries to form a cup structure. They don’t typically reuse nests from year to year. The nest itself can be up to 100 feet off the ground, often over water, usually in or near the top of a shrub or tree. They occasionally nest on the ground or on artificial platforms.  The female lays between 1 to 6 Pale blue-green eggs. Eggs are Incubation for 23 to 26 days by both parents until hatched. Both parents feed the young by regurgitation. The Young may clamber out of nest at 3 weeks and are able to fly at 6-7 weeks. 

Great Egrets were hunted nearly to extinction for their plumes in the late nineteenth century, sparking conservation movements and some of the first laws to protect birds. Now, due to some committed conservation efforts the numbers of the Great Egret have increased at this point in time and the population has increased.

Both photos were taken at - Ilha do Frade, Vitoria - Espirito Santo