Little Egret

Egretta garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766)

55–65 cmLength92 cmWingspan312 gWeight

It is a small, all-white heron with a black bill and legs, with yellow feet in Asian, European and African populations.

Busiest months: September–January and March–April · Most records: China, United Kingdom, India

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Feathers usually all white
Slender black bill
Black legs; yellow feet in Asian, European and African populations
Gray-green bare skin around the eye; yellow iris

Male, female and young

Juveniles resemble adults in the non-breeding season but have greenish-black legs and duller yellow feet.

Voice

Usually quiet; gives croaking and gurgling calls at breeding sites, and a grating alarm call when startled.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: September–January and March–April · Most records: China, United Kingdom, India

Little Egret has been recorded at 4,274 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 169 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Titchwell Marsh RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom6,969 records
Amwell HMWT NRUnited Kingdom6,109 records
Txingudi – PlaiaundiSpain6,055 records

More places

Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)5,864 records
Desembocadura del Guadalhorce – ÁreaSpain5,297 records
International Birding and Research Center Eilat (IBRCE)Israel5,257 records
Mai Po Nature ReserveHong Kong (China)4,577 records
Western Treatment PlantAustralia4,282 records
Sungei Buloh Wetland ReserveSingapore4,278 records
Huajiang IBA – Huajiang Wild Duck Nature Park (Huajiang to Zhongxing Bridge)Taiwan (China)4,234 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China United Kingdom India Spain Portugal Australia Thailand Israel

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia