Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758

The great egret (Ardea alba) is a large heron, the adult is entirely white coloured, long black legs and black coloured feet. It has a bright yellow coloured bill, tipped with black. The cere is greenish-yellow in colour. It also has a long neck which is pulled into an 'S'-shaped curve during flight. During the breeding season the great egret displays wonderful, elegant plumes on its back, which extend up to ten centimetres past the tail and are used in courtship displays, during which the male bird spreads its plumes out like a fan [Kushlan, J.A. and Hancock, J.A. (2005) Bird Families of the World: Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Great egret (Casmerodius albus) Wildscreen Arkive, https://www.arkive.org/great-egret/casmerodius-albus/. Date of access - 15/04/2018].

The great egret has a very large range, occurring across much of the world, from Canada south to South America, across Europe, Africa and Asia, and in Australia [Kushlan, J.A. and Hancock, J.A. (2005) Bird Families of the World: Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford].