A long-legged wading bird with a long yellow bill and dark legs. Its black legs help distinguish it from the white version of the great blue heron, which has yellow legs.
Great egrets live around coves or small bodies of water where they catch their aquatic prey by grabbing unsuspecting fish or crustaceans with their beaks. Like the great blue heron, they can be found walking on kelp to hunt in the ocean. In some instances they will eat small vertebrates like rodents and lizards.
The great egret was almost hunted to extinction for its plumes, which were used to decorate ladies’ hats. It is now the symbol of the National Audubon Society, founded to protect birds and one of the oldest environmental organizations in the U.S.
Photo credit: ©Kip Evans
