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| Egret | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Eastern great egret (Ardea alba modesta) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Ardeidae |
| Subfamily: | Ardeinae |
| Groups included | |
| Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa | |
Nycticorax | |
Egrets (/ˈiːɡrəts/EE-grəts) areherons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build.
Many egrets are members of thegeneraEgretta orArdea, which also contain other species named as herons rather than egrets. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology. The word "egret" comes from the French wordaigrette that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the long, filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season (also called "egrets").
Several of the egrets have been reclassified from one genus to another in recent years; thegreat egret, for example, has been classified as a member of eitherCasmerodius,Egretta, orArdea.
In the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, some of the world's egret species were endangered by relentlessplume hunting, since hat makers in Europe and the United States demanded large numbers of egret plumes, leading to breeding birds being killed in many places around the world.[1]
SeveralEgretta species, including theeastern reef egret, thereddish egret, and thewestern reef egret, have two distinct colours, one of which is just white. Thelittle blue heron has all-white juvenile plumage.
Egrets inhabit all continents; although they typically avoid the coldest regions, arid deserts, and very high mountains. They hunt and live in both saltwater and freshwater marshes.[2]
Data related toArdeidae at Wikispecies