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The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret [2] or great white heron, [3] [4] [5] is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Recently, it has also been spreading to more northern areas of Europe.
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The great egret (Ardea alba, left) resembles the other Ardea in habitus, and the little egret (Egretta garzetta, right) only in color.. These are powerful birds with large spear-like bills, long necks and long legs, which hunt by waiting motionless or stalking their prey in shallow water before seizing it with a sudden lunge.
Great egret or great white egret, Ardea alba; Intermediate egret, Ardea intermedia; Syrigma Ridgway, 1878 – whistling heron: whistling heron, Syrigma sibilatrix; Egretta T. Forster, 1817 – typical egrets: Pied heron, Egretta picata; White-faced heron, Egretta novaehollandiae; Reddish egret, Egretta rufescens; Black heron, Egretta ardesiaca
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 word aigrette 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").