The Great Egret

The Great Egret is also called the Common Egret, aptly nicknamed as it is a common presence in Louisiana bayous and ponds. These birds can be seen in freshwater or saltwater habitats in addition to fields and backyards. But this was not always the case for the Great Egret.

During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, when millinery was a growing profession and ladies’ hats were in vogue, the Great and Snowy Egrets were hunted to the brink of extinction. During courtship, these birds grow additional feathers called aigrettes or nuptial plumes. These feathers are grown on the head, neck and scapulars. They are long, showy, and elegant, and unfortunately they looked really good on womens’ hats.

Plume hunters shot the birds en masse during mating season for these feathers. A double whammy of collecting the feathers during breeding season also meant that abandoned eggs would not hatch. Rough estimates suggest that ninety-five percent of the egret population was killed.

In 1905 outraged citizens protested the killing of the egrets for their feathers, a movement that led, in part, to the establishment of the National Audubon Society and to legislation protecting the egrets. Egret populations rebounded, and the Great Egret is still the symbol of the National Audubon Society.

The late Edward A. McIlhenny of Avery Island, a conservationist before his time, built man-made platforms for egrets over a pond of several acres. Today, this “Bird City” boasts thousands of nesting egrets and herons, and his efforts were responsible for helping the egrets to survive.

In early spring, Great Egrets are one of the first colonial birds to nest—in colonies with other egrets and herons. Usually the Great Egret builds its nest at the tops of trees or in low bushes, over a swamp or sluggish pond. Many re-use or re-build the same nest every year. Occasionally, they have been known to nest on the ground, even in a stand of poison ivy.

In addition to growing nuptial plumes, the Great Egret undergoes other changes during breeding season. Their bills change color from yellow to orange, and the area around the eyes (lores) becomes green. Both male and female experience these changes and look identical to each other.

Both parents incubate the three to five pale green-blue eggs and feed the young. Parents bring food to the nest and regurgitate it to the young.

Aggression is common among nestlings in mixed-species colonies. Not all nestlings survive to adulthood and the mortality is not all from predators, though predation exists with all colonies. Egret chicks will stab and kill their younger and smaller sibling. Chicks also threaten and attack nest intruders. With hardly any feathers, and bills proportionately too large for their body, these young egrets hardly look like killers.

Great Egrets are waders—long-legged birds that frequent shallow water looking for food. Egrets stalk their prey along the edge of lakes and ponds, and when they do find a meal, their sharp and pointed bill acts like a spear.

One of the best places to see nesting Great Egrets is at the Lake Martin rookery. (A large colony of nesting wading birds is called a rookery.)

Lake Martin is located on The Nature Conservancy’s Cypress Island Preserve in St. Martin Parish, right outside of Breaux Bridge. Cattle, snowy and little blue egrets can be seen nesting on button bushes. Other birds such as anhingas and roseate spoonbills can be seen at the rookery also. The best time to visit is late April or early May.

Description: Tall white birds with yellow bills, black legs, thin toes and long necks with a characteristic ‘S’ curve shape; often mistaken for cranes, egrets fly with their neck pulled back on their shoulders in the ‘S’ shaped fashion; cranes fly with their neck extended.

When: Permanent residents in the southern half of Louisiana; if winters are mild the egrets stay in northern Louisiana but if the winter is severe they migrate to the coast.

Breeding: Begins early spring in late March, early April. The male gathers nest material and the female builds or re-builds it.

Feeding: Mostly fish, but frogs, snakes, crawfish, and aquatic insects also make up their diet. In fields they will eat grasshoppers and rodents.

Interesting facts: Great Egrets’ cruising speed is around twenty-five miles an hour. Though the egret usually hunts while wading, it can swim to capture prey.

Harriett can be reached with birding questions at harriett.pooler@gmail.com.