Little Egret

Egretta garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766) ET LITEG 1190
Family: Pelecaniformes > Ardeidae

Little Egret, John Harding

With its yellow feet, which are used to flush prey when feeding in shallow water, the Little Egret is a distinctive member of the heron family.

Little Egrets first bred in Britain in 1996 and since then have successfully colonised much of southern Britain and Ireland. Most of the breeding colonies have been established within existing Grey Heron colonies, the two species nesting alongside one another.

The winter distribution is also currently restricted to the southern half of Britain & Ireland, despite the fact that young birds are known to move some distance from their natal site.

Exploring the trends for Little Egret

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Little Egret population is changing.

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Identification

Little Egret identification is often straightforward. The following article may help when identifying Little Egret.

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Identifying Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

A white heron in the UK is likely to be a Little or Great White Egret. Occasionally Cattle Egrets turn up, and some even stay to breed. How can you pick one of these wanderers out?

SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Little Egret, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

Other

Flight call

Call

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Status and Trends

Population size and trends and patterns of distribution based on BTO surveys and atlases with data collected by BTO volunteers.

CONSERVATION STATUS

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

POPULATION SIZE

POPULATION CHANGE

Until the 1980s the Little Egret was a very scarce migrant to Britain, especially as an overshoot on spring passage. Since then, its status has utterly changed. Following a rapid build-up of wintering birds, the first breeding pair ever in the UK was found in Dorset in 1996 (Lock & Cook 1998, Musgrove 2002). By 2001 the number of breeding pairs had passed 100 and in 2015 it passed 1,000 pairs for the first time (Holling & RBBP 2017). Most of these birds remain over winter and are joined by additional birds from the Continent. The primary source of trend data is the nest counts collated by RBBP, many of which have been submitted via the BTO Heronries Census. This trend is matched by the BBS trend and also by the trend in winter numbers which rose rapidly until 2008/09 then fell slightly before starting another rise (WeBS: Frost et al. 2020). There has been an increase across Europe since 2000 (PECBMS: PECBMS 2020a>)

Though previously amber listed through its concentration at a few key breeding sites, the species was moved to the UK green list in 2015 (Eaton et al. 2015).

Exploring the trends for Little Egret

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Little Egret population is changing.

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DISTRIBUTION

Since first breeding in the UK in 1996

Occupied 10-km squares in UK

European Distribution Map

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2

DISTRIBUTION CHANGE

Distribution change for Little Egret is exclusively a picture of gains, as in previous atlases the species was essentially a rare vagrant.

SEASONALITY

Little Egret is a year-round resident, recorded on up to 10% of lists.

Weekly occurence of Little Egret from BirdTrack
Weekly occurrence patterns (shaded cells) and reporting rates (vertical bars) based on BirdTrack data. Reporting rates give the likelihood of encountering the species each week.

Movement

Information about movement and migration based on online bird portals (e.g. BirdTrack), Ringing schemes and tracking studies.

RINGING RECOVERIES

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

Foreign locations of Little Egret ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland
Encountered in: Winter (Nov-Feb); Spring (Mar-Apr); Summer (May-Jul); Autumn (Aug-Oct)

Biology

Lifecycle and body size information about Little Egret, including statistics on nesting, eggs and lifespan based on BTO ringing and nest recording data.

PRODUCTIVITY & NESTING

Exploring the trends for Little Egret

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Little Egret population is changing.

trends explorer

SURVIVAL & LONGEVITY

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Exploring the trends for Little Egret

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Little Egret population is changing.

trends explorer

BIOMETRICS

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

CODES & CLASSIFICATION

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Gaelic: Corra-gheal-bheag
Welsh: Crëyr Bach
Catalan: martinet blanc comú
Czech: volavka stríbritá
Danish: Silkehejre
Dutch: Kleine Zilverreiger
Estonian: siidhaigur
Finnish: silkkihaikara
French: Aigrette garzette
German: Seidenreiher
Hungarian: kis kócsag
Icelandic: Bjarthegri
Irish: Éigrit Bheag
Italian: Garzetta
Latvian: zida garnis
Lithuanian: mažasis baltasis garnys
Norwegian: Silkehegre
Polish: czapla nadobna
Portuguese: garça-pequena-europeia / garça-branca
Slovak: beluša malá
Slovenian: mala bela caplja
Spanish: Garceta común
Swedish: silkeshäger

Research

Interpretation and scientific publications about Little Egret from BTO scientists.

CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS

Causes of change

There is little good evidence available regarding the drivers of the breeding population increase in this species in the UK.

Further information on causes of change

There is little good evidence available regarding the drivers of the breeding population increase in this species in the UK. However, the initial rapid increases following colonisation may have been aided by lack of intraspecific competition and the ability of this species to exploit a previously unoccupied habitat.

It is also possible that climate change has aided the colonisation of this species by increasing the probability that birds survive over winter. It is notable that the BBS index met a temporary small setback between 2007 and 2012, which was probably the result of unusually cold winter weather, to which the species is susceptible (Holt 2012).

Information about conservation actions

This recent colonist is currently increasing its abundance and range in the UK, and hence no specific conservation actions are currently required. Actions to maintain and create wetland habitats are also likely to benefit this species. Little Egrets often nest in heronries alongside Grey Herons (and sometimes other species); hence actions to ensure that key sites are protected and to prevent disturbance may therefore also be helpful.

Links to more information from ConservationEvidence.com

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