BEAUTIFUL GREAT EGRET

The graceful, all-white Great Egret stands over 3 feet tall, with a lissome, S-curved neck, dagger-like yellow bill, and long black legs. This cosmopolitan wading bird is a common sight in wetlands around the world, where it is also known as the Common, American, or Great White Egret, or White Heron.

Although Great Egrets are usually solitary birds, they congregate in colonies (also known as rookeries) during their breeding season, often alongside other wading birds such as Reddish Egrets and other herons or Wood Storks. These large, noisy colonies are usually located high in trees or shrubs over water, to discourage potential predators.

Most of the Great Egret's harsh-sounding vocalizations are heard during its courtship displays and in the nesting colony. It also voices a harsh-sounding, low “corr” when disturbed.

The Great Egret becomes even more beautiful in its breeding plumage, developing long, delicate plumes that the bird fans during displays. These lacy feathers are known as aigrettes, a French word that is the source of the Great Egret's English common name.

Unfortunately, these airy-looking feathers were prized decorations, particularly for fashionable ladies' hats, in late 19th- and early 20th-century North America. Other bird parts and even entire small birds also adorned clothing, hair, and jewelry. In 1886, noted ornithologist Frank Chapman counted 40 native bird species, including the Baltimore Oriole, Cedar Waxwing, and Snow Bunting, on ladies' hats as he strolled a New York City street.