ID TIPS: GREAT EGRET
Great Egret, adult
April in Galveston County, Texas
SOME REFERENCE BOOKS claim that the most widespread member of the heron family is the Black-crowned Night-Heron. Actually, that distinction properly belongs to the Great Egret, which has an extensive breeding range on every continent except Antarctica.
In the late 1800s, Great Egrets and other wading birds were seriously threatened by “plume hunters” who killed them so their feathers could be used in fashion. Citizens in the United States mobilized to save these birds, leading to the formation of the first Audubon Societies and to legislation that would protect all migratory birds. Populations of most of the species involved were able to rebound, and Great Egrets are probably as numerous as ever. In North America they are widespread in the lower 48 states
