Birds Around Las Vegas, Wildlife Around Las Vegas
 Note the all-black legs and long, yellow bill |
General Description: Great Egrets (Ardea alba) are large white herons. They are all white with a yellow-orange bill and gray to black legs (always dark all the way to the toes. Sexes alike. During breeding season, they grow long plume feathers that can be seen flowing down the back and extending past the tail. Taxonomy: Pelecaniformes, Ardeidae Favored Habitat: Shallow ponds and marshes. |
 Great Egrets mostly catch and eat fish |
Where to Find: Neighborhood ponds, parks (e.g., Lorenzi Park and Sunset Park), the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, and Boulder Beach Marina at Lake Mead NRA. To find them in more natural habitat, visit the Pahranagat Valley or the Overton Wildlife Management Area. Comments: Great Egrets feed in shallow water for fish and bugs, but they also forage on land for mice, lizards, and anything else they can catch. |
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If you were a tasty fish or a little mouse, this might be the last face you ever see! |
 Great Egret with black legs and feet; Dunedin, Florida |
 Great Egret resting on a dock with Ring-billed Gull |
 Great Egret hunting in deep water; got it! |
 Great Egret hunting in the grass, perhaps looking for mice |
 Great Egret with long breeding plumes |
 Great Egret with long breeding plumes |
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 Great Egret feet |
 Great Egret feet |
 Great Egret in flight. Note breeding plumes trailing along the legs |
 Great Egret in flight |
 Great Egret habitat: shallow waters in at Pahranagat NWR |
 Great Egret coming in for a landing |
 Great Egret almost down |
 Great Egret gracefully sticks the landing |
 One less crawdad in Audubon Corkscrew Swamp, Florida |
 One less crawdad in Audubon Corkscrew Swamp, Florida |
 Great Egrets in Henderson BVP |
 Great Egret in Audubon Corkscrew Swamp, Florida |
 Great Egrets like to roost and nest in trees |
 Great Egret in Ruby Marsh, northeast Nevada |
Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
; Last updated 240107
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