Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Size: up to 64 cm in length
Weight: 300 g
Key Features: It can be identified by its pure white feathers; elongated, sinuous neck; long, black legs and dark, stabbing bill. Two subspecies of the little egret are recognised, Egretta garzetta garzetta and Egretta garzetta nigripes. E. g. garzetta sports vivid yellow feet and a grey-green patch of skin between the bill and eyes, while E. g. nigripes has black feet and has a yellow patch of skin between the eyes and bill. During the breeding season, breeding adults develop two long, slender nape plumes and a beautiful gauzy plumage around the breast and back.
Voice: silent away from colonies, but we can hear a hoarse “kgarrk” or a long “aaahk” when it takes off or during disputes on feeding areas.
Breeding: nest in mixed or single species colonies, and lay four to six eggs in single clutch, with the chicks hatching three weeks later and fledging at four weeks old.
Diet: feeds primarily on small fish, which are usually around 1.2 to 6 centimetres in length, but bivalves, crustaceans, and other invertebrates are also consumed.
Habitat: usually found in large wetland areas, typically on mudflats and marshland, but it can also be found hunting in tidal estuaries or small streams. It usually nests in bushes, trees, marshes, swamps, dry open country, woods and on sea cliffs.
Habits: It is highly dependent on visual cues when hunting and therefore its feeding is highly affected if the water is not clear. The bird stirs the sand or mud with one foot, in order to flush some preys, and then, when the prey is detected, it jabs it with its pointed bill. Little Egret walks slowly in shallow water, or along the shores, but the commonest technique shows the bird standing motionless in shallow water or at the edge, waiting for prey coming close to it, and then it spears it with the bill. This egret may also follow cattle in the fields, in order to catch insects, pursuing them by running after the prey. This species feeds during the day, mainly in the early morning and in the late afternoon.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
References:
Whistler, H. (1928) Popular Handbook of Indian Birds. Gurney and Jackson, London.
McKilligan, N. (2005) Herons, Egrets and Bitterns: their Biology and Conservation in Australia. CSIRO, Australia.
Cocker, M. and Mabey, R. (2005) Birds Britannica. Chatto and Windus, London.
Kushlan, J.A. and Hancock, J. (2005) Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Cezilly, F. (1992) Turbidity as an ecological solution to reduce the impact of fish-eating colonial waterbirds on fish farms. Colonial Waterbirds, 15(2): 249-252.
Photo Courtesy
JJ Harrison, Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
