All birds/Ardeidae/Great Egret
AI reconstruction of Great Egret (Ardea alba)AI

AI reconstruction created with Nano Banana 2 · 1K, grounded in the profile’s documented taxonomy, habitat, natural-history sources, and an open-license visual reference when available. It is an interpretive image, not documentary evidence. Image policy

Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Verified source photographMike BairdCC-BY · View source
PRB-0204Pelecaniformes

Great Egret

Garza Real

Ardea alba

Native / natural occurrenceIUCN LC · Least Concern

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Recently, it has also been spreading to more northern areas of Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, it builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

FamilyArdeidaeHerons, Egrets, and Bitterns
Puerto Rico occurrenceNative / natural occurrenceAvibase inferred core 380
Primary habitatwetlandsWetland
Primary dietFishAquatic predator
Average mass1013.1 gGlobal trait estimate
MovementMigratory; Irregular / nomadic movements; Long-distance dispersal; Sedentary / residentTerrestrial

Sound archive

Hear its voice

Explore real songs and calls. The spectrogram turns each sound into a visual trace of time and frequency.

XC1091707Recording 1 of 3flight call
Spectrogram of Great Egret: flight call
SpectrogramArdea alba

Play: flight call by Francesco Sottile

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Sound recorded by Francesco Sottile · XC1091707 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Visualization by Stichting Xeno-canto voor Natuurgeluiden.

Every recording retains the creator, catalogue number, and license published by Xeno-canto. Metadata via GBIF

Island profile

Catalog scopeAvibase inferred core 380

About the Great Egret

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Recently, it has also been spreading to more northern areas of Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, it builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

Conservation

Least Concern

IUCN LC

Global IUCN
LC
Puerto Rico DNER
No current listing in source crosswalk
Federal ESA
No current listing in source crosswalk
Critical habitat
Not identified in source crosswalk

Natural history

How it lives

Habitat
wetlands
Elevation
0–4000 m
Nest
Platform · Shrub / bush / vine; Tree
Clutch
1–6 eggs
Social behavior
Colonial

Keep exploring

This bird belongs to 4 paths through the atlas.

Evidence trail

Sources, media & further reading