Great Egret
Description
The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, it builds tree nests in colonies close to water.
Distribution & Habitat
The Great Egret occurs worldwide including the West
Indies (Raffaele and others 1998),
where it is a common resident
species in Puerto Rico (Oberle
2018). This species occurs in
freshwater and saltwater ponds,
canals, mangroves, lagoons,
moist grassy fields, and urban
streams (Oberle 2018). The atlas
fieldwork yielded a total of 465
records within 253 hexagons
or 53 percent of the 479 total
hexagons (see map). Of the 253
hexagons where this species
was found, breeding met the
atlas definition of confirmed in
3 percent (8) of the hexagons, probable in 2 percent (5), and
possible in 1 percent (2), while
the species was observed in 94
percent (238) of the hexagons
but without evidence of breeding
(see map). Great Egret distribution. The map shows the highest breeding code by hexagon and overlaying the ecological life zones in
Puerto Rico. Note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
Breeding Habits
The Great Egret breeds and roosts colonially and builds a
loose platform of sticks on a tree
branch or in a shrub, primarily
from April to June, according
to previously published reports
(Raffaele and others 1998).
Atlas results indicate that most
breeding activity for this species
occurs during March, April, and
May (see chart). Atlas findings 147Great Egret/Garza Realshow that the Great Egret breeds within the subtropical moist
and subtropical dry forest life
zones in the lowlands (47 and
40 percent of the hexagons,
respectively), and also within the
subtropical wet forest life zone
(13 percent of the hexagons)
in the mountains (see table
and map).
Conservation
The overall population trend for the Great Egret is unknown, but since this species has an
extremely large range, it is listed
as a species of least concern by
the IUCN (BirdLife International
2019). Locally, this species is not
listed in any of the threatened
categories of PRDNER and
USFWS. In Puerto Rico, the Great
Egret has a protected habitat
in land of 7 percent or 25 km2 of the total area covered by
the hexagons where evidence
of breeding was found for this
species (359 km2).
Related Species
Family:
heron