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Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea, 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 word aigrette that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the ...
Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 74 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus Botaurus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron , or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus , form a ...
The great egret was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Ardea alba. He specified the type locality as Europe. [6] [7] The scientific name comes from Latin ardea, "heron", and alba, "white". [8] Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family ...
Japanese night heron: Gorsachius goisagi (Temminck, 1836) 31 Capped heron: Pilherodius pileatus (Boddaert, 1783) 32 Whistling heron: Syrigma sibilatrix (Temminck, 1824) 33 Little blue heron: Egretta caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758) 34 Tricolored heron: Egretta tricolor (Müller, PLS, 1776) 35 Reddish egret: Egretta rufescens (Gmelin, JF, 1789) 36 ...
The "great white heron" could be confused with the great egret (Ardea alba), but is larger, with yellow legs as opposed to the great egret's black legs. The reddish egret ( Egretta rufescens ) and little blue heron ( Egretta caerulea ) could be mistaken for the great blue heron, but are much smaller, and lack white on the head and yellow in the ...
In ancient Rome, the heron was a bird of divination that gave an augury (sign of a coming event) by its call, like the raven, stork, and owl. [36] Roast heron was once a specially prized dish in Britain for special occasions such as state banquets. For the appointment of George Neville as Archbishop of York in 1465, 400 herons were served to ...
The white-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) also known as the white-fronted heron, [2] and incorrectly as the grey heron, [3] or blue crane, [2] is a common bird throughout most of Australasia, including New Guinea, the islands of Torres Strait, Indonesia, New Zealand, and all but the driest areas of Australia.
Western cattle egrets waiting for scraps at the fish market of Victoria, Seychelles. A conspicuous species, the cattle egret has attracted many common names. These mostly relate to its habit of following cattle and other large animals, and it is known variously as cow crane, cow bird or cow heron, or even elephant bird or rhinoceros egret. [16]