Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) is distinguished from other egrets by their slender black bills and nuptial head plumes. Foraging is primarily done on mudflats by little egrets, usually alone. In pastures and waters deeper than ten centimeters, it rarely ventures. It feeds on small vertebrates, such as fish and amphibians, as well as various invertebrates. On sight of prey, the egret dashes after it with a quick high-stepping walk or run, often raising its wings, when it stands motionless for most of the time.
In association with spoonbills, it may shuffle its foot in the water or feed on prey disturbed by the disturbance. Little Egrets have difficulty handling fish longer than 10 centimeters and often lose them. Approximately half of the attacks are successful. It averages two or three attacks a minute. The process involves cracking the wings in flight, and fanning the nuptial plumes before and after the bond is established, and cracking the wings in flight. Little Egrets measure about 560 mm in length.
Neither sex is different from the other. White is the general color of the plumage. Yellow skin on the naked face. Yellow is the color of the eyes. Black is the color of the bill. Legs and feet are black; soles are yellow. When courting, the face and eyes turn red. During the breeding season, there are two fine ribbon plumes on the back of the head and frayed plumes on the back and breast. Adult non-breeding birds are similar to immature birds. The downy young are white; their bills and feet are dusky.
Several croaking and bubbling calls can be heard at the nest by the Little Egret and clacking the bills. Nesting and breeding throughout the year, mainly in spring and summer. Nest on a platform of sticks in a tree or bush; in some districts in a reed bed or on a rocky islet. In colonies with other colonially nesting water birds.
The bird lays up to five eggs, usually three or four; bright blue-green; oval, about 43 x 31 mm. The incubation period is about 21-25 days, for both sexes. Young, fed by both parents by regurgitation, fledgling in 45-50 days. The Little Egret is found on coastal and inland mudflats around Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and southern Eurasia and Africa. Two races; one small and one black-toed in Australia.
Read More – Pied Heron or Pied Egret
