Little Egret

Egretta garzetta

Other Names

    Aigrette garzette, Aigrette blanche, Garzette blanche, Héron garzette, Petite Aigrette   Seidenreiher   Garceta Común   Silkeshäger   Kleine Zilverreiger   Garzetta

World: Widely distributed including Southern Europe, much of Asia, North and East Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Kenya: Locally common through much of the South and West of the country, largely absent from the East, except along the coast near the Uaso Nyiro and Tana Rivers and up the Uaso Nyiro to Garsen, and North, except around Lake Turkana.

One of six basically white egrets found in Kenya, it's the only one with black legs and yellow feet. It also differs from the Intermediate and Cattle Egrets in having a black bill. On the coast the very similar Western Reef Heron has dark but not black bill and legs; the Dimorphic Egret usually has yellow lores while non-breeding Little Egret has grey lores. There is also a dark morph of the Little Egret which is pretty much impossible to distinguish from the dark morph of the Dimorphic Egret. On a tour or safari the best (easiest) places we've found to see it are at Amboseli and Baringo.