Great Egret

Great Egret is a common breeding resident of dry lowlands and uncommon bird in wet zone while occasional visitor to the hills. It inhabits paddy fields, tanks, rivers, lagoons and mangroves mostly as solitary birds or few individuals sometime associates with other egrets. It feeds on fish, prawns, and other such aquatic animals as well as ground insects like grasshoppers. The breeding season is from December to May and it builds a nest – a shallow platform of sticks- placed in a tree by water, usually in company with other herons, egrets, cormorants etc. Breeding birds have black bills and bright bluish green lores and in non-breeding plumage bill yellow and lores dull pale green.