Birds of the World


Great Egret (Ardea alba egretta) Range: NA, SA, AF, PAL, OR, AU: worldwide West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.

A common, large, tall, and thin egret, seen in wetlands and open fields as well.

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Yellow-billed Egret (Ardea brachyrhyncha) Range: AF: Africa s of the Sahara


Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea cinerea) Range: PAL, AF, OR: widespread Ebro Delta, Spain
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.


Cocoi Heron (Ardea cocoi) Range: SA: widespread
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.

A very large heron. Note more black on crown and around eyes, and white throat compared to North American Great Blue Heron.


Eastern Cattle Egret (Ardea coromanda) Range: OR: s, e Asia and Australasia Daintree Village, Queensland, Australia
Photograph by JJ Harrison Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.


Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath) Range: AF, PAL: widespread in Africa s of the Sahara, Iran and Iraq to India Marievale Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa Much larger than the next largest heron in its range, the Grey Heron.
Photograph by Derek Keats Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 License. You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work, and to adapt the work under the following conditions: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work) If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.


Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias wardi) Range: NA, MA: widespread Wakodahatchee, Florida, USA
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.

The largest heron in North American is occasionally seen in South America. Compare to Cocoi Heron, but note great throat. There is an all white subspecies in the Caribbean.
With a snake.
In flight.
An all white race of [Great Blue Heron] is found almost exclusively in the Caribbean.
Two immatures at a nest.


Humblot's Heron (Ardea humbloti) Immature Endangered Range: AF: w, c Madagascar Ianantsony, Toliara, Madagascar
Photograph by David Cook Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file for non-commercial purposes under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.


Western Cattle Egret (Ardea ibis) Breeding Colors Range: PAL, AF, NA, MA, SA: s Europe to Iran, Africa, Indian Ocean Is., North to South America
Photograph by Tom Friedel © All Rights Reserved.

A recently introduced species to the Americas. Generally seen with livestock. Roosts in groups of thousands in some places.


White-bellied Heron (Ardea insignis) Critically Endangered Range: OR: e Himalayas Punakha, Bhutan
Photograph by Bradley Hacker © All Rights Reserved.


Medium Egret (Ardea intermedia) Range: PAL, OR: India to Japan and Greater Sundas Laem Pak Bia, Phetchaburi, Thailand
Photograph by JJ Harrison Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.


Black-headed Heron (Ardea melanocephala) Range: AF: widespread s of the Sahara Marievale Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa
Photograph by Derek Keats Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 License. You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work, and to adapt the work under the following conditions: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work) If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.


White-necked Heron (Ardea pacifica) Range: AU: Australia Hexham Swamp, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Photograph by JJ Harrison Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.

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Plumed Egret (Ardea plumifera) Range: OR: e Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia


Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea purpurea) Range: PAL, OR, AF: widespread Lake Baringo, Kenya
Photograph by Rainbirder (Steve Garvie) Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.


Great-billed Heron (Ardea sumatrana) Range: OR, AU: se Asia and w Philippines to n Australia and New Guinea Daintree River, Queensland, Australia
Photograph by JJ Harrison Copyright and usage info This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.