Colours of Wildlife: Little Egret
Created | Updated Jul 14, 2019
Little Egret
Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"
The Little Egret, Egretta garzetta, is not just an African bird – it occurs also in southern and eastern Europe, in south-east Asia, the islands of Indonesia, New Guinea, and northern and eastern Australia. A very similar species, the Snowy Egret, occurs in the Americas. These elegant wetland birds were almost exterminated from much of their range in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the breeding season, they grow special long, delicate and very feathery white plumes on their backs. These are called 'aigrettes', and were at a time very popular for decorating ladies' hats. So many birds were killed just for these feathers that populations in Europe and Asia crashed. In Africa they've been fairly secure, though, being very widespread but nowhere particularly abundant. In South Africa, it is one of the easier species to spot and identify.
Varied Colours and Anti-Slime Feathers
This and a few other egret species come in alternative colour schemes. The majority of the birds are white, but a few are grey, and a few are even black! They're all the same species, though. These rare dark forms (or 'morphs') can cause confusion with the black egret, a different species that is naturally all-black; but the dark form of the little egret usually can be distinguished by a white throat. The white form is similar to the Cattle Egret, the Yellow-billed (or Intermediate) Egret, the white morphs of the Western Reef Heron and of the Dimorphic (or Mascarene) Egret, and the much larger Great White Egret. It is smaller than all of these, and if seen well, can be distinguished by its black legs with sharply contrasting yellow feet. Breeding birds have the long, white 'aigrette' plumes at the backs of their heads, on their breasts, and on their backs, overhanging their wings and tails.
Another feature of these and other egrets and herons are very special feathers called 'powder down'. These occur on the breast, flanks and rump. These fine feathers crumble into a dry powder when rubbed with the bill. This powder absorbs slime from the water and from the fish and eels the birds come in contact with. The bird preens by biting and rubbing the bill in this powder down, and then taking the powder and applying it to the rest of the plumage. After the feathers have been 'powdered' like this and the slime is absorbed, they will comb out the feathers using a special claw on their feet that has comb-like projections. This treatment helps keep the plumage of these stylish birds clean, sleek and neat.
Egrets are members of the heron family. There isn't really a meaningful difference between a heron and an egret; the ones called egrets are usually the ones that are white (or at least have a white morph), and/or have the fine plumes on their backs. The same family also includes the bitterns, a group of mostly shy birds that hide in dense reedbeds, the larger ones having deep, booming calls.
In South Africa, little egrets occur in varied environments. They patrol the shallow water close to the banks of rivers and lakes; they occur in swamps, marshes, estuaries, and mangroves, and also along the seashores, in rocky places such as in my painting. In Eastern Africa, they are replaced on the shores by dimorphic egrets, but are common inland. In much of Africa, rains are unpredictable, and consequently these birds move around, seeking regions where rain has recently fallen and where there will be enough water to host the fish, frogs, crabs and other aquatic critters they feed on. But on large, permanent waterbodies, they will be resident year-round. When there are shoals of fish, they will form flocks along with other wetland birds to exploit the food abundance. They've also learnt to feed on fish offal dumped by humans, and so flocks of them can be found in harbours where the fishing boats go in and out.
Little egrets breed in colonies of mixed wetland bird species called 'heronries'. They may find it advantageous to nest close to larger species, whose size and aggression keep away predators. They prefer to nest in trees but if these are not available, will nest in reedbeds. One pair of egrets has been seen nesting on the beach in the middle of a colony of Kelp Gulls! The long plumes that grow in the breeding season are used for display, the birds spreading these over their backs almost as a peacock does with his train. The male has the duty of collecting sticks or reeds; he passes it to his mate, and she builds the bulky platform nest from this material. She lays two to four eggs in this. The chicks are fed by regurgitating fish and other yummy things into their open mouths. Their legs and feet grow disproportionately fast, which helps them climb back to their nest if they should fall out. They tend to leave the nest before they can fly, clambering about the reeds and branches in the colony. In South Africa, there aren't any very large nesting colonies of little egrets, but in Europe and Asia, some colonies have thousands of pairs. This has made them very easy to exploit for the 'aigrette' plume trade. Today, in Europe and some places in Asia, they're protected and have recovered their numbers. In South Africa, they're not threatened, being able to exploit so many different kinds of wetlands, and even benefiting from new waterbodies created by dam-building humans.
