The little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a medium-sized, slender and very elegant bird that belongs to the heron family. With an outstretched neck it is 55 to 65 cm long, and its wingspan measures between 88 and 106 cm. It is thus almost half the size of the similar Great White Egret. Both species have completely white plumage; we will recognize the little egret most easily and surely in the year when it shows its yellow toes on otherwise black legs. It has a dark, spear-shaped bill.
Active by day, when in small groups or alone it searches for food. As for food, the little egret is an opportunistic predator, as it takes on anything that crawls or walks. Although it does not shy away from snails, earthworms, crabs, spiders and reptiles, and even young birds, its diet nevertheless is dominated by small fish, amphibians, and insects.
The little egret is a migratory bird that does not breed here, but is a regular visitor on its migrations. Most of them winter in Africa, the Middle East and in southern Spain. It occurs in various wetlands, for example on the shores of shallow lakes and rivers, open marshy surfaces and floodplain meadows, on rice fields, seashores and salt flats, and even on pastures and fields. It nests in groups – colonial. In dense reed beds the nest can be on the ground; more often it builds its nest in trees by shallow water surfaces.
The little egret is primarily threatened by degradation and loss of suitable wetlands due to drying for agricultural purposes. Changes in the existing land-use patterns also threaten its habitats, and it is increasingly a victim of overexploitation and environmental pollution.
