Little egret - description, habitat

Lesser White Heron is a medium-sized bird of the heron family, mainly living in swamps. Most often found in the eastern hemisphere, due to the most attractive climatic conditions for it.

Outwardly, this marsh bird is very similar to its congener - a large white heron, but differs from it in some striking details:

• significantly smaller sizes;
• some details of the color of the legs of the bird and its beak;
• elongated feathers of the chest and occipital zone.

The main habitat is various water sources, the water of which can be either flowing or standing; shallow lakes, floodplain forests, marshland.

This bird is practically not afraid of humans, often herons of this species can be found near farms and cattle pastures. It feeds mainly on small fish, snails and frogs.

Description

The plumage is exclusively white. Herons of a completely black color are also found in nature, their main characteristic feature is a pure white chin, but this is a very rare occurrence. This variety of small herons has a special definition of "morph."

A characteristic feature of the male during the mating season is the presence of long crests (egret) located in the occipital part of the head, chest and shoulders of the bird. Such crests consist of unresolved feathers. The beak is perfectly black. The space between the eye and the beak has no plumage, and in certain periods of time has a different color:

• during the mating season - reddish;
• the rest of the time - a gray-blue hue.

The color of the legs of the bird is black with a characteristic yellow metatarsus (in young individuals, the color of the plus has a greenish color). The only difference between males and females is the presence of decorating egret.

As a rule, egret is uncommunicative (the exception is the breeding season). The cries of the bird are quite loud and look like an extended croaking. Sometimes it can make hoarse short interrogative sounds. During the flight, it greatly extends its neck.

Natural habitat

For their nesting, small herons prefer to choose coastal forests with dry shrubs, thickets, and other vegetation of medium height. This bird is often found outside reservoirs, poplar groves, open marshes, small canals and rice fields. In this case, cattle pastures and the adjacent territory serve as a place for feeding and nesting.

Migration features

White heron, living mainly in the tropics, is more a settled bird, partially roaming. Palearctic-type populations are migratory; their main wintering place is Southeast Asia and Africa.

Breeding white herons

The main time for breeding populations of small herons in such a part of the globe as Europe and Central Asia is the period from March to July. For birds living in the rest of the range, this period is closely related to the beginning of the rainy season. In most cases, the nesting of small herons is monovid. Nevertheless, cohabitation with other marsh birds (cormorants, caps, different kinds of heron family) is not excluded.

The sizes of such mixed colonies often reach several thousand pairs. With independent settlement, the number of pairs in the colony of white herons rarely exceeds a hundred. Lonely nesting pairs are extremely rare.

The nest has the characteristic shape of an inverted cone, the width of the walls of which does not exceed 35 cm. As a rule, it is arranged by birds on a crease of reed or reed thickets, not too high from the surface of the water. To create a bird's nest, use long dry twigs. Also often a place for a nest is a short tree or bushes, in which case grass stems are used as material.

I would like to note that often birds instead of creating a new nest are occupied by empty old ones left from other herons. When arranging the "home", you can notice a kind of distribution of responsibilities - the male’s task: to produce building material, the female heron is engaged in its direct laying.

In heron colonies, which are quite large, the maximum distance between the nests of birds is about 4-5 meters, the minimum is less than a meter. Note that this is an extremely rare occurrence. The average number of egg laying of one individual is from 2 to 6 pcs. Egg laying in the tropics is much less.

The eggs of small herons are distinguished by a delicate bluish-green hue with a slightly pronounced sheen, their laying is carried out with an interval of up to two days. The duration of incubation is quite long and amounts to about 25 days, at the same time, incubation is an occupation of both parents, although it is the female who spends most of her time in the nest.

Covering the born chicks is a rare white fluff, feeding is carried out by both parents (belching food from beak to beak). Mature chicks begin to leave the nest after three weeks, for this, in the daytime, they move to the branches of nearby shrubs / trees of small height. The manifestation of the ability to fly in young individuals appears after 6-7 weeks. As a rule, after this, young birds leave their parental nest forever, while they try to stay close to the flocks hunting in the nearest forage territories. The average life expectancy of this type of heron is about five years.

Power Features

The basis of the diet of white herons is small fish weighing up to 20 grams. In addition, these birds are happy to eat land and water insects, frogs, mollusks, representatives of crustaceans / arachnids, small birds and reptiles. As a rule, this marsh bird feeds mainly in shallow water, using different methods for catching food, for example, spending a long time in one place, watching its prey. Or he hunts for suitable animals, quickly catching up with her. Note that during the nesting period, the distance between the nest itself and the preferred bird forage territory can reach several kilometers (up to 13 km).

Subspecies

There are several subspecies of the white egret, but the most famous of them are only two.

Egretta Garzetta - is a nominative subspecies of marsh birds, the most common in Asia, Africa and Europe.

The next known subspecies is Egretta Nigripes, mainly found in Australasia and Indonesia.

Also often mentioned is the mention of such a subspecies of small white herons as - E. g. Immaculata is a marsh bird whose main habitat is Australia.

I would like to note that until recently, a considerable number of other independent species were attributed to subspecies of egret. For example, they include the coastal heron that lives in the coastal regions of Asia and Africa.Another species of marsh birds that was previously attributed to this subspecies of small herons is the so-called reef, which can be found in countries of East Africa, Comoros and Madagascar.

Video: Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)