Little Egret ( Egretta garzetta, family: Ardeidae)

little egret kruger national park birds The Little Egret (Latin name Egretta garzetta) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 67 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 583 also a picture of the Little Egret on page 592. The Little Egret belongs to the family of birds classified as Ardeidae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Little Egret is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Little Egret in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Little Egret : see above distribution map.

The Little Egret.

Kruger Park Little EgretIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Little Egret is a largish bird about the same size as a Pied Crow. The height of the Little Egret is about 64 cms and its weight is about 520 gms

The male and female Little Egret have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is white.
  • Eye is black.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is white.
  • Legs are grey, black.

This bird has long legs.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Little Egret feeds on the ground and in or around water mainly

Reptiles

Smaller animals

Invertebrates

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Little Egret is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Egretta garzetta will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Little Egret is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub or on the ground. The bird lays eggs which are green in colour and number between 2 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Little Egret are: wetlands and riverine areas

You can see Little Egret in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... iNgekle

Afrikaans ...Kleinwitreier

German ... Seidenreiher

Portuguese ... Gara-branca-pequena

French ... Aigrette garzette

Dutch ... Kleine Zilverreiger

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 67

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za