Herons

Great Egret

Silberreiher

Ardea alba

Herons7 photosFirst seen: 4 September 2026

The Great Egret is a very large white heron with an almost worldwide distribution. It usually hunts by standing still or walking slowly in shallow water, but also feeds on small vertebrates and insects in wet fields.

ID tip: Its size, very long S-shaped neck and long yellow bill distinguish it from Little Egret. The legs and feet are black, while breeding adults may develop a darker bill and long back plumes.

First seen: 4 September 2026 · Lake Skadar · 7 photos in the collection.

Places in my records

Locations where this species is supported by a dated first record, an unambiguous single-place outing or a reviewed assignment.

Lake Skadar4 September 2026

Family: Herons (Ardeidae)
Length: 80–104 cm
Wingspan: 131–170 cm
Regional status: Year-round resident (Montenegro)
Conservation: Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 5 September 2026
Habitat: Shallow lakes, marshes, rivers, floodplains, lagoons and wet fields
Diet: Fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and large insects

Built from verified occurrence records, not drawn by hand. Core range = the countries holding 99% of all records; the rest are scattered or vagrant records. Record counts track where people watch birds as much as where the birds are, so the map shows presence, not abundance. Data: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). Basemap: Natural Earth.

Great Egret

Places in my records

Selected photographs