Great Egrets

©Hazel Billingsley

Published: May 8, 2006

Hazel Billingsley saw this adult Great Egret and two chicks at High Island, Texas.

Great Egrets (Ardea alba) are widely seen in coastal areas and wetlands of North America, Mexico, and Central America. Hazel saw these egrets at the Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary of High Island, a popular birding destination.

She used a Canon 10D digital SLR and a 300mm f/4 Canon lens and a 1.4x Sigma teleconverter.

See a portrait of a Great Egret in breeding plumage in St. Augustine, Florida.
See a close-up picture of Great Egret at Florida's St. Augustine Alligator Farm.

You can see the bird at these great birdwatching hotspots:

Mitchell Lake Audubon Center, San Antonio, Texas
Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland, California
West Fairview Boat Launch, East Pennsboro, Pennsylvania

View photos of other wading birds:
- American Bittern standing by reeds
- American Bittern poking its head out of vegetation
- Black-crowned Night-Heron
- Great Blue Heron eating a fish
- Great Blue Heron standing on a rock
- Great Blue Herons tending to their nest
- Great Blue Heron chicks
- Green Heron
- Least Bittern
- Little Blue Heron
- Reddish Egret
- Roseate Spoonbill standing in a tree
- Roseate Spoonbill, wings spread
- Snowy Egret running in shallow water
- Snowy Egret standing in mirror-like water
- Snowy Egret standing in tree
- Tricolored Heron
- White Ibis
- Wood Stork
- Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Directions, maps, bird lists, and tips for more easy-to-get-to birdwatching destinations.

Talk about this photo, and read what other people are saying about it, in our photography forum.

To learn how one of your pictures could become a Photo of the Week, read our guidelines.