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Great Egrets (nesting)
Ardea alba
29.9066, -91.9112
Field Notes
Description:
The male builds a nest platform from long sticks and twigs before pairing up with a female, and then both members of the pair may collaborate to complete the nest, though the male sometimes finishes it himself. The nest is up to 3 feet across and 1 foot deep. It is lined with pliable plant material that dries to form a cup structure. They don’t typically reuse nests from year to year. Males choose the display areas, where nests are later constructed. The nest itself is up to 100 feet off the ground, often over water.
Habitat:
On the platform rookery at Willow Pond (Bird City) in Jungle Gardens.
Notes:
Jungle Gardens is a 170-acre (0.69 km2) botanical garden and bird sanctuary located on Avery Island, Louisiana. The gardens were created by Edward Avery McIlhenny, second son of Edmund McIlhenny, the inventor of Tabasco sauce. In 1895 McIlhenny raised eight egrets in captivity on the island, and released them in the fall for migration. They returned the next spring with other egrets, and have continued to do so over generations. Today thousands of egrets inhabit the island from early spring to late summer.
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