Geographic Range
Great egrets are found in the Nearctic as far south as Texas, the Gulf coast states,
and Florida up the Atlantic coast to Maine and southern Canada, and west to the Great
Lakes.
Habitat
The ideal location for great egrets is near any form of water. Streams, lakes, ponds,
mud flats, saltwater and freshwater marshes are inhabited by this beautiful bird.
Wooded swamps and wetlands are the preferred location for great egrets and other heron
species.
- Habitat Regions
- temperate
- terrestrial
- saltwater or marine
- freshwater
- Aquatic Biomes
- lakes and ponds
- rivers and streams
- coastal
- brackish water
Physical Description
Great egrets are less then 1 meter long from bill to tail, 1 meter tall, have a wingspan
of 1.5 meters, and weigh about 912 to 1140 g. On average, males are larger than females.
They are completely white with a long yellow bill and dark gray legs. During flight
their neck is usually in an “S” shaped curve. They are very elegant birds with plumage
resembling lace.
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- homoiothermic
- bilateral symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- male larger
- ornamentation
Development
Nestlings are virtually helpless and covered with a layer of long white down feathers and begin to fly at about 42 days after hatching (Illinois Department of Natural Resources [INHS] 1998).
Reproduction
Great egrets are seasonally monogamous animals. Male egrets are responsible for selecting
a territory and performing a series of rituals in order to attract a female. Copulation
occurs within the males’ territory.
- Mating System
- monogamous
Typically, great egret nests are built with other heron nests in a colony in wetlands
and wooded swamps. Nests are a flimsy platform constructed of sticks, twigs, and
stems built as high as possible. The eggs are a pale greenish blue, and are incubated
by both the male and female for about 23 to 24 days. Nestlings usually fledge 2-3
weeks after hatching. With a clutch size of only 3-4 eggs, great egrets will lay
replacement eggs if any of the first eggs are damaged. Great egrets are capable of
reproducing after two years and raise one brood per year. The breeding season begins
mid-April.
- Key Reproductive Features
- iteroparous
- seasonal breeding
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- fertilization
- oviparous
Both male and female great egrets participate in incubating and feeding the semi-altricial
young. Nestlings are initially fed by regurgitation, followed by bill-grabbing, where
the parent holds prey over the nestling to grab at as it eats.
- Parental Investment
- no parental involvement
- pre-fertilization
-
pre-hatching/birth
-
protecting
- male
- female
-
protecting
-
pre-weaning/fledging
-
provisioning
- male
- female
-
provisioning
Lifespan/Longevity
Great egrets have a lifespan of about 15 years in the wild (22 in captivity).
Behavior
Great egrets are very territorial when it comes to courtship, nesting and feeding.
They are diurnal feeders and at dusk they gather from surrounding areas to form communal
roosts. Post-breeding dispersal is very common among great egrets. After the young
hatch, they accompany the adults on long journeys. Many heron species rob other species
in order to obtain more food. Great egrets steal a very high percentage of their
food from other smaller herons. They also fight for food within their own brood.
For many avian species food availability has an effect on aggression. However, it
has been found that great egrets are highly aggressive in many situations even when
food is not limited.
- Key Behaviors
- flies
- diurnal
- motile
- territorial
- colonial
Home Range
There is no information available on the home range for this species at this time.
Communication and Perception
Great grets communicate through elaborate courtship rituals, and with vocalizations
that are a harsh low “corr”. Much of the way these birds communicate is illustrated
by their elaborate courtship dances, and territoriality. When defending their territory
they may squawk harshly, leap at, or jab their beak at the intruder.
Food Habits
Frogs, snakes, crayfish, fish, mice, crickets, aquatic insects, grasshoppers, and
many other insects constitute the typical diet of a great egret. Other large wading
birds have similar feeding habits and compete with great egrets for food resources.
As opportunistic predators, great egrets usually feed on smaller aquatic and terrestrial
insects and vertebrates and are considered to be heterotrophs. Wading slowly through
the water, they are extremely successful at striking and catching fish or insects.
Studies found that, standing still, great egrets were able to ingest more prey of
intermediate size than if they moved around. This suggests that their goal is not
to catch the largest quantity of food, but to catch high quality food.
- Animal Foods
- mammals
- amphibians
- reptiles
- fish
- insects
- aquatic crustaceans
Predation
Adult great egrets have no non-human predators and now have some legal protection
against humans. However, eggs and nestlings are exposed to numerous predators including
crows (family
Corvidae
), vultures (family
Cathartidae
), and raccoons (
Procyon lotor
, which are the most threatening).
Ecosystem Roles
As predators great egrets affect the populations of their prey.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Prior to the 20th century there was great demand for the lacey plumage of great egrets
for women's hats and other fashionable garments.
- Positive Impacts
- body parts are source of valuable material
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
There are no known adverse affects of great egrets on humans.
Conservation Status
Prior to the 20th century, the population of great egrets was nearly decimated by
the demand for their lacey plumage for women’s hats and other fashionable garments.
With great concern for the welfare of great egrets, legal restrictions were placed
on the harvesting of this animal. Great egrets were placed under the protection of
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918. By the mid 1900's populations of great egrets
were steadily on the rise. Today, populations are doing well. However, there are still
many human-induced threats to the survival of great egrets. Loss of habitat, water
pollution, and various air pollutants all contribute to the dangers faced by great
egrets. Hydrocarbons are especially problematic because they cause great egrets to
lay thinner eggs that are more susceptible to cracking or damage before the young
hatch. Mercury has been found at high levels in the feathers of numerous avian species
including great egrets. The amount of mercury found depends on age, sex, geographic
location, and mercury concentrations in the habitat around them including the air,
soil and organisms they consume. These contaminations have also been found to negatively
effect behavior, physiology, and reproduction.
Additional Links
Contributors
Alaine Camfield (editor), Animal Diversity Web.
Jessica Jones (author), Western Maryland College, Randall L. Morrison (editor), Western Maryland College.
- Nearctic
-
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- terrestrial
-
Living on the ground.
- saltwater or marine
-
mainly lives in oceans, seas, or other bodies of salt water.
- freshwater
-
mainly lives in water that is not salty.
- coastal
-
the nearshore aquatic habitats near a coast, or shoreline.
- brackish water
-
areas with salty water, usually in coastal marshes and estuaries.
- marsh
-
marshes are wetland areas often dominated by grasses and reeds.
- swamp
-
a wetland area that may be permanently or intermittently covered in water, often dominated by woody vegetation.
- bog
-
a wetland area rich in accumulated plant material and with acidic soils surrounding a body of open water. Bogs have a flora dominated by sedges, heaths, and sphagnum.
- riparian
-
Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream).
- estuarine
-
an area where a freshwater river meets the ocean and tidal influences result in fluctuations in salinity.
- endothermic
-
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- sexual ornamentation
-
one of the sexes (usually males) has special physical structures used in courting the other sex or fighting the same sex. For example: antlers, elongated tails, special spurs.
- monogamous
-
Having one mate at a time.
- iteroparous
-
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- fertilization
-
union of egg and spermatozoan
- oviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
- diurnal
-
- active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- territorial
-
defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement
- colonial
-
used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- carnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats meat
- piscivore
-
an animal that mainly eats fish
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
References
Burger, J., M. Gochfeld. 1997. Risk, mercury levels, and birds: relating adverse laboratory effects to field biomonitoring. Environmental Research , 75: 160-172.
Chisholm, D. 2001. Showy snowy and great egrets!. Photographic Society of America Journal , November 67: 32.
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, 2000. "Wildlife in Connecticut" (On-line). Accessed 11/20/2003 at http://dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/wildlife/factshts/gegret.htm .
Drummond, H. 2001. A revaluation of the role of food in broodmate aggression. Animal Behaviour , 61 61: 517-526.
Gough, G., J. Sauer, M. Iliff. 1998. "Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter" (On-line). Accessed 11/20/2003 at http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/infocenter.html .
Hill, K. 2001. "Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce" (On-line). Accessed 11/20/2003 at http://www.sms.si.edu/IRLSpec/Ardea_alba.htm .
Illinois Department of Natural Resources, 1998. "Illinois Natural History Survey" (On-line). Accessed 11/20/2003 at http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/chf/pub/ifwis/birds/great-egret.html .
Kushlan, J. 1978. Nonrigorous foraging by robbing egrets. Ecology , 59, No. 4 59: 649-653.
Oregon Zoo, 2002. "Oregon Zoo Animals:Great Egret" (On-line). Accessed 11/20/2003 at http://www.zooregon.org/Cards/Cascades/great_egrets.htm .
Sheehey, A. 1998. "A Field Guide to the Birds of Kern County" (On-line). Accessed 11/20/2003 at http://www.natureali.com/GrEg.htm .