Listen to the little egret
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the little egret
The little egret is a bird in the family Ardeidae (order Pelecaniformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 92 cm and weigh around 532 g.
What does the little egret sound like?
Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
The recordings here are labelled as flight call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. It breeds colonially, often with other species of water birds, making a platform nest of sticks in a tree, bush or reed bed. A clutch of three to five bluish-green eggs is laid and incubated by both parents for about three weeks. The young fledge at about six weeks of age.
It is a polytypic species with two or arguably more subspecies. Its breeding distribution comprises the wetlands, waterways and shorelines of warm temperate to tropical parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe. A successful colonist, its range has gradually expanded north, with stable and self-sustaining populations now present in the United Kingdom.
Related birds in the genus Egretta
More from the family Ardeidae
Grey heron
Ardea cinerea
Great egret
Ardea alba
Black-crowned night heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
Eurasian bittern
Botaurus stellaris
Purple heron
Ardea purpurea
Little bittern
Botaurus minutus
Striated heron
Butorides striata
Indian pond heron
Ardeola grayii
Agami heron
Agamia agami
American bittern
Botaurus lentiginosus
Black-headed heron
Ardea melanocephala
Frequently asked questions
What does a little egret sound like?
You can hear 1 recording of the little egret on this page, including its flight call. Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
Is the little egret endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the little egret as “least concern”.
What family does the little egret belong to?
The little egret (Egretta garzetta) belongs to the family Ardeidae in the order Pelecaniformes.
Sources & credits
- Flight call · Área Metropolitana de Sevilla (near Isla Mayor), Sevilla… by Joost van Bruggen – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q131709 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Little egret – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by El Golli Mohamed – CC BY-SA 4.0