Great Egret Casmerodius albus Linnaeus     Field Guide IDs: NG-60; G-94; P-l02; PW-pl 4; AW-pl 2; AW-pl 3; AM (1)-110 Nest Location Nest Type Eggs & Mating System Dev. & Parental Care Primary & 2ndary Diet.. Foraging Strategy MF I: 23 - 26 DAYS SEMIALTRICIAL 1 SHRUB 8 feet - 40 feet (3 feet - 90 feet) MF 3 (1 - 6) MONOG F: 42 49 DAYS MF SM VERTS AQUATIC INVERTS BREEDING: Marshes, swamps, irrigation ditches, tidal estuaries, fresh- and brackish-water margins. 1 brood. DISPLAYS: Territorial defense incl: erect posturing, supplanting flights. Courtship: advertising calls, circle flight, neck stretch skyward, snap. Greeting ceremony: erects plumes, raises wings. NEST: Frail, of sticks, twigs. Unlined or lined with tine materials. Occ perennial. EGGS: Light blue or light bluish-green. 2.2" (57 mm). DIET: Also insects, lower vertebrates, small birds. Young usu fed frogs, crayfish, fish; regurgitant delivered directly into nestling' mouths, later into nest. CONSERVATION: Winters s to C.A. Decimated by plume hunters. Clutch and brood sizes have increased since 1972 ban on DDT. NOTES: Usu in colonies of 10 to 1,000s. Most cosmopolitan of all herons. Young leave nest at 3 weeks. Forages alone or in groups, oft by slowly wading in shallow water, occ commensally with White Ibis or other species. Forages in mixed flocks, occ stealing from smaller species-piracy 5 x more efficient than foraging. Formerly known as American or Common Egret. STANFORD. NOTES: Uncommon visitor to Lagunita when water is present; has been seen feeding on California tiger salamanders there. May forage year-round for small mammals in grassy habitats, though less frequently than the Great Blue Heron. ESSAYS: Plume Trade; DDT and Birds; Communal Roosting; Commensal Feeding. REFERENCES: Hancock and Kushlan, 1984; Mock, 1978; Pratt and Winkler, 1985.