ID Egrets
Australian egrets can be tricky to tell apart, especially in different stages of plumage. This guide helps you identify the Cattle Egret, Eastern Great Egret, Little Egret, and Plumed Egret, with side-by-side comparisons. It also includes the Eastern Reef Egret, a similar-looking heron.
Tap on each image to see a larger version.
Cattle Egret (breeding)
Yellow or red eye, orange-yellow bill, and spiky orange plumes on head, breast and back. Small egret often found hanging out in paddocks.
Cattle Egret
(non-breeding)
Yellow eye, yellow bill, and sometimes a light-buff coloured wash on feathers.
Eastern Great Egret
(breeding)
Turquoise facial skin, yellow or back bill, and white plumes may be on back and tail. Australia’s largest egret that hangs out alone or in small groups.
Eastern Great Egret
(non-breeding)
Yellow facial skin and yellow bill with black tip (juveniles).
Little Egret
(breeding)
Yellow facial skin turns pinky-red during courtship, black bill, two long head plumes, and plumes on back and breast. Smallest of the egrets.
Little Egret
(non-breeding)
Bright yellow facial skin and black bill with part-yellow base.
Plumed Egret
(breeding)
Green facial skin, red-rose bill, rose-red legs, and white plumes may be on back and breast. Formally known as the Intermediate Egret, and size is in-between a Cattle Egret and an Eastern Great Egret.
Plumed Egret
(non-breeding)
Yellow facial skin, yellow bill, and fine plumes on breast.
Head comparison
Eastern Great - bill thinner and longer, gape extends past eye
Plumed - bill rounder and shorter, gape stops at eye
Little - bill black or black and yellow, gape stops at eye
Neck comparison
Eastern Great - neck is 1.5 times length of body
Plumed and Little - neck is same length as body
Eastern Reef Egret
Not an egret but looks like one! Also known as the Pacific Reef Heron, this bird has two morphs (dark or white) and has a thicker bill, long plumes on back and breast, short legs and a neck that appears longer than its body.
Podcast episodes
Learn more about egrets and other waterbirds in these Weekend Birder episodes:
70 Birding in East Gippsland - with Luca