Reddish Egret
Egretta rufescens
About This Species
Watch for this striking egret's distinctive feeding behaviour in shallow coastal lagoons and tidal flats, where it runs, staggers, and spreads its wings erratically to startle small fish into view before striking. Adults show a shaggy, two-toned rufous and grey plumage that is unlike any other heron in its range, while a separate white morph also occurs. Coastal shallows during low tide, when prey is concentrated, are the most reliable times and places to see this active foraging style.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- As a Near Threatened species with a small, patchy population concentrated in a limited range of coastal wetlands, extra caution is warranted: keep at least 50 metres away and avoid approaching foraging or roosting birds directly.
- This species is particularly sensitive to disturbance of nesting colonies, and coastal wetland protections vary between the countries bordering its range, so defer to local reserve rules and seasonal closures rather than a single assumed standard.
- Because it depends on undisturbed tidal flats to hunt, avoid lingering near a foraging bird even at a distance if it repeatedly stops feeding to watch you.
NTAvesPelecaniformesArdeidae
Seasonal Activity
376,601 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Ardeidae
Photo
(c) Paul Cools, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Paul Cools
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.