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Great Egret

Status Rare visitant. The first record was of a bird collected near Halifax in September 1867 (Jones 1868). Only a few more were recorded prior to 1960, but since then it has been almost annual, with 21 individuals sighted in April, 18 in May, 6 in June, 5 in July, 7 in August, 4 in September, 13 in October and 5 in November. A very early bird was recorded near Sydney between 19 and 26 March 1981, and two very late birds were near Fourchu, Richmond County, on 13 December 1975, and near Yarmouth until 4 December 1977.

Description Length: 90-107 cm. Adults in breeding plumage: All white with plumes from the back which extend beyond the tail. Legs and feet black. Bill yellow or orange. Adults after breeding season, and immatures: Without plumes.

Range Found widely throughout the world. In the Western Hemisphere, breeds from New Jersey to Oregon and south to Patagonia. Individuals, like many others of the heron family, wander northward after their breeding season.

Remarks Early in the present century, this bird and its close relative, the Snowy Egret, were killed by hunters gathering aigrettes (plumes), which were sold to the millinery trade. Plumes are at the peak of perfection during breeding season, and it was then that the slaughter took place, the parent birds being shot from ambush as they returned to their nests carrying food for their young. The species was saved from probable extinction by the timely enactment of laws that forbade women to wear the plumes on their hats. With no market for the feathers the killing ceased and now the species has made a satisfactory recovery.