Bird Blogging……Little Egret

The little Egret (Egretta garzetta) is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae.

It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures including fish & aquatic creatures. It breeds colonially, often with other species of water birds, making a platform nest of sticks in a tree, bush or reed bed.

Its breeding distribution is mostly in wetlands in warm temperate to tropical parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

In warmer locations, most birds are permanent residents while northern populations including many European birds mostly migrate to Africa and southern Asia to over come the winter there.

It was hunted extensively in the 19th century to provide plumes for the decoration of hats for Royal Ladies and became locally extinct in northwestern Europe and scarce in the south.

Around 1950, conservation laws were introduced in southern Europe to protect the species and their numbers began to increase. By the beginning of the 21st century the bird was breeding again in France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain.

Little egrets are mostly silent but make various croaking and bubbling calls at their breeding colonies and produce a harsh alarm call when disturbed.

Compiled with much care for my Bird lover Blogger friends with pictures I clicked from Kochin in Kerala,India.

#PhotoBySiba