The little egret is a small, white heron that feeds on small fish and crustaceans. Once a very rare visitor from the Mediterranean, little egrets are now a common sight around the coasts of southern England and Wales as they expand their range, possibly due to increasing temperatures caused by climate change. It first bred in the UK on Brownsea Island, Dorset, in 1996, and has been moving northwards ever since; it was recorded as breeding in Berkshire for the first time in 2007.
The little egret is a white heron with black legs and yellow feet. It has a black bill and long plumes on its head and neck during the breeding season.
Found around the coasts and estuaries of England and Wales, more rarely in Scotland and inland.
The long neck plumes of little egrets were once more valuable than gold and were smuggled into Europe during the 19th century. As a result, little egret populations plummeted until laws were put in place to protect them.
The graceful bird is known as egretta garzetta to scientists, simply "garzetta" to Italians; it's the little egret to the rest of us. Related to the heron, this snowy white migratory bird lives in many parts of Eurasia and Africa, preferring marshes and other wetlands for feeding and breeding. It has a long black bill, black legs and bright yellow feet, and spends only part of its time in southeastern Sicily. There are far more pairs in certain regions of Spain, Portugal and Turkey, but little egrets are found as far north as Scandinavia and England. They feed on insects, frogs, small fish and reptiles.
Its annual Winter passage through Sicily on the way to other southern regions is usually a brief one, but the egret, though a rare sight, is not invisible. It grows to a height of about sixty centimetres. Hardly "little," but true herons are much larger. Egretta thula, the snowy egret, is a New World species closely related, and remarkably similar, to the little egret, making this superspecies one of the world's most widespread birds. There are several subspecies, too.
Then there are those bright yellow feet, certainly an unusual characteristic. The egret has been known to dip a foot in water and shake it about a bit to attract fish which it then catches with its long bill. A very efficient lure.
