By Charlie Fineran

Hi Everybody:

STORY BEHIND PHOTO OF THE WEEK ARTICLE:
Friday, July 21, 2023 11:30 am, I am returning home driving down Youngs Island Road by my home in Allamuchy.  My attention is caught by two white flickers in a sea of green in the flooded field off to my right.  It is the Egrets, they have been seen here for the last couple of days both perusing through the fields and flying overhead then landing in the trees just off the fields.  Get my camera going and all of a sudden they take off, I am now seeing three, which I luckily catch on video.  I go home and put my new photos and videos on Facebook.  Wonder if I could use this for insidewarren.com.  Checked my records and found I had done an article back in August of 2021.  I am thinking, I don’t think this will be a problem for a repeat, these are some beautiful birds.

The GREAT EGRET (Casmerodius albus)
Formally known as the “American Egret”, “Common Egret”, “Large Egret”, “Great White Egret” and “Great White Heron” this bird’s official name in North America is now Great Egret.  **Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, ‘Ardeidae’.  Traditionally classified with storks in the ‘Ciconiiformes’, the ‘Ardeidae’ are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the ‘Pelecaniformes’ instead.  The great egret – unlike the typical egrets – does not belong in the genus ‘Egretta’ but together with the great herons is today in ‘Ardea’.**  I find it very interesting, how the scientists are constantly reviewing their notes and not shy about making changes in classifications and names as information and evidence is uncovered!  (NOTE:  It was also interesting for me to review my archive photos of this bird over the last twenty years, and then, noticing the various different names, I had assigned it, according to whatever time period the photo was from!)

SAD STORIES / HAPPY ENDING
One of the most magnificent of the herons, this bird was once hunted for the millinery (hat) trade, those hunters carried out a historic persecution which almost ended in the bird’s extinction by the early 1900s!!  Fortunately they recovered from that historic persecution by plume hunters!  The great egret was ‘Not out of the woods yet’, their recovering population, slowly increasing in numbers, was soon to face a new challenge, the use of DDT!!  DDT also negatively affected their populations, and it wasn’t until the ban on DDT in 1970’s that they finally began to recover.  Fortunately, they have recovered!!  

Much like the Great Blue Heron, only a little smaller, it usually feeds alone, stalking fish, frogs, snakes and crayfish in shallow water. Every summer many individuals, especially young ones, wander far north of the breeding grounds.  These carnivorous birds have special adaptations of long legs for wading and a sharp bill designed for grasping or spearing slippery prey.  The great egret’s neck, like all herons, contains a modified vertebrae that gives the bird’s neck its characteristic “S” shape and that provides the bird with a swift stabbing motion.

DESCRIPTION – 35-41 inches – W 4’7”  A large, all white heron with yellow bill and black legs.  In breeding plumage, has long lacy plumes on back.  Males and females look alike.  It has a slow flight with its neck retracted.

VOICE – A guttural croak.  Also loud squawks at nesting colonies

HABITAT – Freshwater lakes, fresh and salt marshes, marshy ponds, Rivers, lagoons and tidal flats.

DIET – The great egret feeds in shallow water or frier habitats, feeding mainly on fish, frogs, small mammals and occasionally small reptiles and insects.  They usually spear prey with its long sharp bill, most of the time by standing still and allowing the prey to come within striking distance.  It may also slowly stalk a victim.  They are diurnal (day) feeders and return to community roosts at night.

NESTING – 3-5 pale blue-green eggs on a platform of sticks in a tree or bush.  Nests in colonies, often with other species of herons.  The male selects the nest area, begins the nest and attracts a female. Both members incubate the eggs.  Nest exchanges, in which the male and female exchange the incubation responsibilities, contain elaborate greeting ceremonies that reinforce pair bonds.  Incubation begins immediately upon the laying of the first egg, but this leads to chicks of different sizes.  Siblicide, when larger nest mates kill smaller ones, often occurs, especially in years when food is scarce and competition is high.  Brood reduction seems harsh, but food resources are concentrated on those remaining nestlings, maximizing the number of young that are successfully raised.  In good years, there is much less competition and siblicide is much reduced.  Parents are either unwilling or unable to interfere when chicks begin fighting.

The young are fed by regurgitation by both parents.

RANGE –  Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, it builds tree nests in colonies close to water.  Breeds locally from Oregon south to western Mexico, from Minnesota to Mississippi Valley and Southeast and along Atlantic Coast north to southern New England.  Winters regularly north along Pacific Coast to Oregon, Southwest, Texas and Gulf Coast states;  north to New Jersey.  Also in tropical America and warmer parts of the Old World.  The species adapts well to human habitation and can be seen in local urban wetlands areas.  They are partially migratory, going escape cold areas in winter.

The great egret is a large bird without a lot of predators.  Main threats, habitat loss, pesticides, snakes, owls, hawks and alligators.

QUESTION
What is the difference between a heron and an egret?

ANSWER
key difference between the heron and the egret is in their height difference.  Egrets are smaller in height than herons.  Another key difference is the color of their legs, egret leg’s are usually black, while the heron’s legs are light, gray or brown.

Please visit my Flickr site for more Great Egret photos  https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72157646871375068

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran

Director Open Space
Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission – Chairman
Allamuchy Historical Society – President