Little Egret

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Little Egret, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Green listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	No
Birds Directive Annex 1	Yes
Listed on the Annexes of	WBD(I), Bern(III)

Until the 1980s the Little Egret was a very scarce migrant to Britain, especially as an overshoot on spring passage. Since then, its status has utterly changed. Following a rapid build-up of wintering birds, the first breeding pair ever in the UK was found in Dorset in 1996 (Lock & Cook 1998, Musgrove 2002). By 2001 the number of breeding pairs had passed 100 and in 2015 it passed 1,000 pairs for the first time (Holling & RBBP 2017). Most of these birds remain over winter and are joined by additional birds from the Continent. The primary source of trend data is the nest counts collated by RBBP, many of which have been submitted via the BTO Heronries Census. This trend is matched by the BBS trend and also by the trend in winter numbers which rose rapidly until 2008/09 then fell slightly before starting another rise (WeBS: Frost et al. 2020). There has been an increase across Europe since 2000 (PECBMS: PECBMS 2020a>)

Though previously amber listed through its concentration at a few key breeding sites, the species was moved to the UK green list in 2015 (Eaton et al. 2015).

UK breeding population	+2347% increase (1995–2022)
UK winter population	+933% increase (1996/97–2021/22)

Since first breeding in the UK in 1996

Distribution change for Little Egret is exclusively a picture of gains, as in previous atlases the species was essentially a rare vagrant.

Little Egret is a year-round resident, recorded on up to 10% of lists.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	13 years 6 months 12 days (set in 2019)
Typical Lifespan	5 years with breeding typically at 2 year
Adult Survival	0.712
Juvenile Survival	0.32 (in first year)

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	G*
Field Codes	2-letter: ET | 5-letter code: LITEG | Euring: 1190

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

There is little good evidence available regarding the drivers of the breeding population increase in this species in the UK.

Further information on causes of change

There is little good evidence available regarding the drivers of the breeding population increase in this species in the UK. However, the initial rapid increases following colonisation may have been aided by lack of intraspecific competition and the ability of this species to exploit a previously unoccupied habitat.

It is also possible that climate change has aided the colonisation of this species by increasing the probability that birds survive over winter. It is notable that the BBS index met a temporary small setback between 2007 and 2012, which was probably the result of unusually cold winter weather, to which the species is susceptible (Holt 2012).

Information about conservation actions

This recent colonist is currently increasing its abundance and range in the UK, and hence no specific conservation actions are currently required. Actions to maintain and create wetland habitats are also likely to benefit this species. Little Egrets often nest in heronries alongside Grey Herons (and sometimes other species); hence actions to ensure that key sites are protected and to prevent disturbance may therefore also be helpful.