Egretta
Genus of birds
title: "Egretta" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["egretta", "bird-genera", "extant-miocene-first-appearances", "taxa-named-by-thomas-ignatius-maria-forster"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/egretta" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egretta" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of birds ::
| name = Egretta | image = White-faced-Heron444.jpg | image_caption = White-faced heron, Egretta novaehollandiae | taxon = Egretta | fossil_range = Late Miocene to present | type_species = Ardea garzetta | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1766 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text. | authority = T. Forster, 1817
Egretta is a genus of medium-sized herons, mostly breeding in warmer climates.
Representatives of this genus are found in most of the world, and the little egret, as well as being widespread throughout much of the Old World, has now started to colonise the Americas.
These are typical egrets in shape, long-necked and long-legged. A few plumage features are shared, although several have plumes in breeding plumage; a number of species are either white in all plumages, have a white morph (e.g. reddish egret), or have a white juvenile plumage (little blue heron).
The breeding habitat of Egretta herons is marshy wetlands in warm regions. They nest in colonies, often with other wading birds, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs.
These herons feed on insects, fish, and amphibians, caught normally by cautious stalking.
Taxonomy
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Little_Egret_(Egretta_garzetta)_in_AP_W_IMG_3625.jpg" caption="Little egret ''[[Egretta garzetta]]'' in [[Kolleru]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], India"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Egretta_novaehollandiae_02_gnangarra.jpg" caption="[[White-faced heron]], ''E. novaehollandiae'' with a [[frog"] ::
The genus Egretta was introduced in 1817 by the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster with the little egret as the type species. The genus name comes from the Provençal French for the little egret, aigrette, a diminutive of aigron, "heron".
As with other heron groupings, the taxonomy of these birds has been a source of dispute. Some of these species have been placed with the great herons in Ardea, and conversely, the large white species such as the great egret are occasionally allocated to Egretta. The fact that some members of the genus have common names of "heron" and some of "egret", causes further confusion in differentiating between this genus and Ardea.
Species
The genus contains 13 species: ::data[format=table]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Pied Heron in breeding plumage - Fogg Dam - Middle Point - Northern Territory - Australia.jpg | 120px]] | Egretta picata | Pied heron |
| [[File:White Faced Heron in Humpbybong Creek-08 (6114107932).jpg | 120px]] | Egretta novaehollandiae | White-faced heron |
| [[File:Reddish Egret at Sunset - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland.jpg | 120px]] | Egretta rufescens | Reddish egret |
| [[File:Black heron, Egretta ardesiaca, at Marievale Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa (30128438242).jpg | 120px]] | Egretta ardesiaca | Black heron |
| [[File:Slaty egret, Egretta vinaceigula, Chobe National Park, Botswana. (31940265300).jpg | 120px]] | Egretta vinaceigula | Slaty egret |
| [[File:Tricolored Heron in Breeding Plummage - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland.jpg | 120px]] | Egretta tricolor | Tricolored heron, Louisiana heron |
| [[File:Little Blue Heron (1).jpg | 120px]] | Egretta caerulea | Little blue heron |
| [[File:Egret (9331391838).jpg | 120px]] | Egretta thula | Snowy egret |
| [[File:Garceta común (Egretta garzetta).jpg | 120px]] | Egretta garzetta | Little egret |
| [[File:Western Reef Heron Egretta gularis by Dr. Raju Kasambe DSCN9339 (1).jpg | 120px]] | Egretta gularis | Western reef heron |
| [[File:Dimorphic egret (Egretta dimorpha) white morph.jpg | 120px]] | Egretta dimorpha | Dimorphic egret |
| [[File:Pacific Reef Heron Egretta sacra (Gmelin, 1789) (16354037192).jpg | 120px]] | Egretta sacra | Pacific reef heron, Pacific reef egret, or eastern reef heron |
| [[File:Chinese Egret.jpg | 120px]] | Egretta eulophotes | Chinese egret |
| :: |
A fossil species, Egretta subfluvia, is known from the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene of Florida.
References
References
- . ["Ardeidae"](https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=25). *The Trust for Avian Systematics*.
- Forster, T.. (1817). "A Synoptical Catalogue of British Birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to Observations on British ornithology". Nichols, son, and Bentley.
- (1979). "Check-List of Birds of the World". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Jobling, James A. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
- (July 2021). "Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans". International Ornithologists' Union.
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