Great Egret Ardea alba Scientific name definitions

Intermediate in size between the larger day herons and the smaller egrets, the elegant, stately Great Egret, in its dazzling white plumage, is widely recognized in North America and elsewhere. In the Western Hemisphere, the decimation of populations of this species and other wading birds during the early twentieth century by overhunting helped spark the formation of conservation and environmental organizations, as well as laws protecting these birds. Indeed, the Great Egret is the organizational symbol for one of the oldest such groups in the United States, the National Audubon Society.

This cosmopolitan species inhabits freshwater, estuarine, and marine wetlands, nests colonially, and feeds in aggregations as well as solitarily. The breeding behavior of the species has been extensively investigated (Wiese 1976b Wiese, J. H. (1976). Courtship and pair formation in the Great Egret. Auk 93:709–724. Close ; Mock Mock 1978b Mock, D. W. (1978). Pair-formation displays of the Great Egret. Condor 80:159–172. Close , Mock 1980b Mock, D. W. (1980). Communication strategies of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets. Behaviour 72:156–170. Close ), as has its foraging ecology in the southeastern United States (Kushlan Kushlan 1976a Kushlan, J. A. (1976). Feeding behavior of North American herons. Auk 93(1):86–94. Close , Kushlan 1978b Kushlan, J. A. (1978). Feeding ecology of wading birds. In Wading Birds (A. Sprunt IV, J. C. Ogden, and S. Winkler, Editors) National Audubon Society Research Report 7. New York, NY, USA. pp. 249–298. Close , Kushlan 1978c Kushlan, J. A. (1978). Nonrigorous foraging by robbing egrets. Ecology 59:649–653. Close ; Bancroft et al. 1990b Bancroft, G. T., S. D. Jewell, and A. M. Strong (1990b). Foraging and nesting ecology of herons in the lower Everglades relative to water conditions. Final report to South Florida Water Management, West Palm Beach, FL, USA. Close ; Bancroft et al. 1994 Bancroft, G. T., A. M. Strong, R. J. Sawicki, W. Hoffman, and S. D. Jewell (1994). Relationships among wading bird foraging patterns, colony locations, and hydrology in the Everglades. In Everglades: the Ecosystem and its Restoration (S. Davis and J. C. Ogden, Editors), St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL, USA. pp. 615–657. Close ). The nesting ecology of the Great Egret has also received significant attention (Pratt Pratt 1970 Pratt, H. M. (1970). Breeding biology of Great Blue Herons and Common Egrets in central California. Condor 72:407–416. Close , Pratt 1972 Pratt, H. M. (1972). Nesting success of Common Egrets and Great Blue Herons in the San Francisco Bay region. Condor 74:447–453. Close ; Mcvaugh 1972 Mcvaugh, Jr., W. (1972). The development of four North American Herons. Living Bird 11:155–173. Close ; Maxwell and Kale 1977 Maxwell, G. R., and H. W. Kale (1977). Breeding biology of five species of herons in coastal Florida. Auk 94:689–700. Close ; McCrimmon 1978 McCrimmon, D. A., Jr. (1978). Nest site characteristics among five species of herons on the North Carolina coast. Auk 95:267–280. Close ; Beaver et al. 1980 Beaver, D. L., R. G. Osborn and T. W. Custer (1980). Nest-site and colony characteristics of wading birds in selected Atlantic coast colonies. Wilson Bulletin 92:200–220. Close ; Mock Mock 1980b Mock, D. W. (1980). Communication strategies of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets. Behaviour 72:156–170. Close , Mock 1984 Mock, D. W. (1984). Siblicidal aggression and resource monopolization in birds. Science 225:731–733. Close ; Pratt and Winkler 1985 Pratt, H. M., and D. W. Winkler (1985). Clutch size, timing of laying and reproductive success in a colony of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets. Auk 102:49–63. Close ). Its adaptability as a generalist has doubtless contributed to its global distribution and wide-ranging recovery from previous North American population decimation. (Analyses of changes in contemporary populations of the species in the southeastern United States are found in Ogden 1978a Ogden, J. C. (1978). Recent population trends of colonial wading birds on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains. In Wading Birds (A. Sprunt IV, J. C. Ogden and S. Winckler, Editors), National Audubon Society, New York, NY, USA. pp. 137–153. Close and Ogden 1994 Ogden, J. C. (1994). A comparison of wading bird nesting colony dynamics (1931–1946 and 1974–1989) as an indication of ecosystem conditions in the southern Everglades. In Everglades: The Ecosystem and its Restoration (S. Davis and J. C. Ogden, Editors), St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL, USA. pp. 533–570. Close and McCrimmon et al. 1997 McCrimmon, Jr., D. A., S. T. Fryska, J. C. Ogden and G. S. Butcher (1997). Nonlinear population dynamics of six species of Florida Ciconiiformes assessed by Christmas Bird Counts. Ecological Applications 7:581–592. Close .)

Relationships among the Ardeidae (herons) have been revised or relisted several times, and both the common and scientific names have changed correspondingly. The Great Egret has been classified in the past under several genera, including its own monotypic genus, Casmerodius; with other egrets in Egretta; or allied with other large herons in Ardea. English names used in the past in North America include American Egret and Common Egret, while in the Old World it has been known as Great White Egret (or even Great White Heron). Over its broad worldwide range, 4 subspecies are recognized. This account focuses on populations in the Americas (Ardea alba egretta; see American Ornithologists' Union 1998a American Ornithologists' Union (1998). Check-list of North American Birds. 7th edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC, USA. Close ).