Great Egret: Species Profile

Second only to the Great Blue Heron in sizethe Great Egret (Casmerodius albus)sometimes called the Great White Egretis one of the largest of the wading birds that inhabit the Everglades. Standing over 4 feet in height with a wingspan of more than 50 inchesit is similar in appearance to the Snowy Egret but can be distinguished by its long black legsblack feetstout yellow billand tremendous size. The Snowy Egret is smaller than the Great Egret and has a black bill and yellow feet.

The Great Egret also is often mistakenly identified as the Great White Heronwhich is the white form of the Great Blue Heron. The heavier bill and pale legs of the Great White Heron are useful distinguishing characteristics. Like other heronsthe Great Egret flies slowly and with its neck retractedwhich is an easy way to distinguish it in flight from storkscranesibisesand spoonbillswhich extend their necks in flight.

The fishing habits of Great Egrets are among the most efficient of all birds. Great Egrets stalk their prey by slowly walking or standing motionless in the shallows and forage with their webbed feetraking and probing the bottomand snapping up fish in a matter of milliseconds with their quick bill reflex. In addition to fishtheir diet includes invertebratesamphibiansreptilesother birdsand small mammals. They feed in a variety of wetlandsincluding marshesswampsstreamsriverspondslakestide flatscanalsand flooded fields.

Although Great Egrets are primarily solitary birdsthey do congregate during mating season and can often be found nesting with other species in shrubs and trees over water. Both males and females exhibit long ornamental plumes during the mating season. Large numbers of Great Egrets were killed in North Americaincluding the Evergladesaround the end of the 19^th century so that their plumes could be used to decorate hats. In the late 1800s naturalist John James Audubon visited the Evergladeswhere wading birds had been nesting for thousands of years. Public outrage was growing to put a stop to the mass commercial hunting of wading birds for the plume industry. Sporting one of the most popular plumagesthe Great Egret became the symbol of the National Audubon Societyone of the oldest environmental organizations in North Americafounded to protect all species of wading birds from being killed for their feathers. More than 300 Great Egrets were required to yield just one kilogram of feathers.

Although numbers of Great Egrets have recovered throughout most of the United States in response to conservation measuresnumbers have declined in some parts of the southern United States because of habitat loss. Data indicate that the Florida Everglades has undergone a 90-percent reduction in the number of breeding pairs of wading birds. Dwindling populations are a result of a combination of detrimental factorsmost of them manmadeand many of them occurring outside the park boundary but strongly influencing bird populations within the park. Urbanizationwater-management practicespesticide applicationagricultural runoffindustrial mercury and lead poisoningillegal toxic-waste dumpingdrainingdredgingand road building all have had a detrimental effect on wading bird habitatand therefore population.

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