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Little Egret
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Little Egret, Egretta garzetta is a small white heron. It is the Old World counterpart to the very similar New World Snowy Egret. There are at least two subspecies of Little Egret. The nominate subspecies E. g. garzetta occurs in Europe, Africa and Asia. E. g. nigripes breeds in Indonesia and Australasia. Those in Australia are sometimes thought to represent a third subspecies E. g. immaculata.
Several other egret taxa have at times been classified as subspecies of the Little Egret in the past but are now regarded as separate species. The Western Reef-Egret, Egretta gularis occurs on the coastline of West Africa (race gularis) and from the Red Sea to India (race schistacea). The Dimorphic Egret, Egretta (garzetta/gularis) dimorpha is found in East Africa, Madagascar, the Comoros and the Aldabra Islands.
The adult Little Egret is 55–65 cm long with an 88–106 cm wingspan. It weighs 350–550 grams. Its plumage is all white. It has long black legs with yellow feet and a slim black bill. In the breeding season, the adult has two long nape plumes and gauzy plumes on the back and breast. The bare skin between the bill and eyes becomes red or blue. Juveniles are similar to non-breeding adults but have duller legs and feet. The subspecies garzetta has yellow feet and a bare patch of grey-green skin between the bill and eyes, whereas nigripes has yellow skin between the bill and eye and blackish feet.
Little Egrets are mostly silent but make various croaking and bubbling calls at their breeding colonies and produce a harsh alarm call when disturbed. At one time, the plumes of the Little Egret and other egrets were in demand for decorating hats. They had been used for this purpose since at least the 17th century but in the 19th century it became a major craze and the number of egret skins passing through dealers reached into the millions. Egret farms were set up where the birds could be plucked without being killed but most of the supply was obtained by hunting which reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels (stimulating the establishment of Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 1889). Now conservation laws protect this species, and the population has rebounded strongly.
The Little Egret is not listed as a threatened species on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. However, it status varies from state to state within Australia. For example:
* The Little Egret subspecies E. g. nigripes is listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988). Under this Act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has been prepared.
* On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, the Little Egret (E. g. nigripes) is listed as endangered. |
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- horias
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 387 W: 59 N: 854]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(3948) - [2009-10-09 12:57]
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Florin
Splendida capture ta de azi!
Culori naturale, detalii placute.
Felicitari!
Horia
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- roges
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 598 W: 0 N: 523]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(3096) - [2009-10-09 13:45]
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Salut Florin,
Ca si Horia nu am decit sa te felicit si eu pentru aceasta postare. Excelenta captura. Cu ajutorul tau mai vedem si noi ce fauna mai exista inca in Delta Dunarii.
Asteptam si alte frumuseti.
Un weekend placut,
Adrian
Hi Florin
Good portrait of the little egret. Good composition, well positioned in the frame. Good sharpness.
Chris
Hello Florin
very beautiful image of this white egret in a nice environment
great sharf details and wonderful colors and lighting
fine pose and POV
thanks for sharing
Jacqueline
![Silver Note Writer [C: 2 W: 0 N: 22]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/n-n-s.gif){kind=small}