Identification
An imposing bird with high legs and a particularly long neck, all-white. It has a yellow beak, but before the breeding season it becomes all-black in colour. Like all herons, when it flies, it tucks its long neck into its back, with its long legs stretched backwards. Characteristic is the harsh call it makes when it moves away, annoyed by human presence.
Distribution - Habitat
The Great egret distributes to all continents, it is as we say a "cosmopolitan" kind of bird. Breeding colonies of the Great egret exist in large wetlands in northern Greece and in Europe it has shown a tendency in recent decades to expand its range further north, in countries where it did not breed before.
On our island it is observed all year round but in large numbers in autumn and spring when it passes through during migration and then up to 150-200 individuals can be observed in the wetlands of the northern part of the Gulf of Kalloni. Higher densities, of course, are found in the Kalloni Salt Pan, where fish populations, especially in autumn, are very large.
Interesting Information
- He belongs to the "patient" herons: he waits motionless for a long time or walks slowly until the fish passes by him and he will harpoon it in a flash. In fact, up to 26 different ways of hunting have been recorded! Its prey consists mainly of fish but also reptiles and small rodents.
- For mating, it grows long thin wings on its shoulders and chest. Many populations were driven to extinction in the 19th and early 20th century as they were killed for these feathers (for use in hats and clothing).
- There are far fewer individuals remaining on our island in winter and very often they are then seen in farmland near or far from wetlands. This change in their habits is due to the fact that during the energy-demanding winter period they rely on eating small rodents present in the crops. So instead of waiting for the fish to harpoon the fish that will appear, it ambushes the opening of the tunnels that small ground rodents use as shelters.
- It is a member of the large family of herons, which in Lesvos numbers 9 different species.
