Great Egret

Pure white plumage; long, loose ornamental plumes (aigrettes) grow from the back, extending well beyond the tail. The bill changes from yellow to black (often with a yellow base), and the lores become bright emerald green.

Pure white plumage without ornamental plumes. The bill is yellow (often with a dark tip), and the lores are yellowish-green.

Similar to the non-breeding plumage of adults; pure white, bill yellow, often with a darker tip or culmen; legs usually entirely dark.

Minimal; males are on average slightly larger and heavier than females, plumage is identical.

Large, pure white heron with an S-shaped neck. Flies with a retracted neck (typical for Ardeidae). Long black legs and feet (distinction from Little Egret, which has yellow feet). Yellow bill in winter, black bill during the breeding season.

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - significantly smaller, yellow feet; Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - grey plumage; Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) - smaller, stockier, with orange patches in breeding plumage.

Long, dagger-like bill. Yellow in non-breeding plumage, black during the breeding season (nominate race Ardea alba alba often with a yellow base).

No true song; vocalizations are limited to calls.

A deep, harsh, and raspy croak, sounding like 'krr-aak' or 'krrohh', mostly heard when disturbed or at the colony.

Cosmopolitan distribution; in Europe centered in Southeastern Europe (Danube Delta, Lake Neusiedl), with a strong expansion into Northern and Western Europe (Netherlands, Germany, Poland) since the 1980s.

Partial migrant; European populations winter in the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and increasingly in Central Europe at ice-free water bodies.

Birds from northern and eastern regions migrate southwest; many Central European birds are residents or short-distance migrants as long as food is available.

Large-scale reed beds at lakes, oxbows, or in marshes; less commonly in trees or bushes near water.

Shallow water zones of lakes, rivers, ditches, and marshes; in winter also on arable land and grassland (hunting mice).

A flat, often flimsy platform made of reed stalks, twigs, and aquatic plants; constructed by both partners.

Pale greenish-blue, oval, smooth.

Both parents incubate and feed the young by regurgitating food; intensive defense of the nesting area.

Primarily aquatic: fish, amphibians (frogs, newts), aquatic insects and their larvae, occasionally small waterbirds.

Increasingly terrestrial: small mammals (especially voles), insects in fields, but still fish in ice-free waters.

Waits motionless (stand-and-wait) or wades extremely slowly through shallow water to stab prey with a lightning-fast thrust of the bill.

Opportunistic carnivore; utilizes both aquatic and terrestrial habitats; often hunts solitarily but gregarious at good feeding sites.

Highly social; breeds in colonies (often with other heron species) and forms communal roosts during winter.

Forms loose groups for foraging and during migration; roosting sites often host gatherings of hundreds of individuals.

Loss of wetlands due to drainage; disturbance at breeding sites; illegal persecution (historically); climate change (drying out of habitats).

Strongly increasing; significant range expansion into Northern and Western Europe since the 1980s.

Protection and restoration of large-scale reed beds and wet meadows; minimizing disturbance at breeding colonies; maintaining fish-rich shallow water zones.