Many egrets are members of the
genera Egretta or
Ardea which also contain other species named as herons rather than egrets. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology. The word "egret" comes from the French word "aigrette" that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the long filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season.
Several of the egrets have been reclassified from one genus to another in recent years: Several
Egretta species, including the
eastern reef egret, the
reddish egret, and the
western reef egret have two distinct colours, one of which is entirely white. The
little blue heron has all-white juvenile plumage. In this gallery we will attempt to show the Great, Cattle, Snowy & Reddish species