Matthew Katz
Great Egrets live in any marshy wetland, whether it be freshwater, brackish water, or saltwater. They live throughout the U.S. and southern Canada, but are mostly concentrated in the southeastern United States. Their diet consists mainly of small fish, but have also been known to prey on a variety of other organisms including: invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, and even birds.
Great Egrets were hunted by the tens of millions in the middle of the nineteenth century as the feather trade took off. In 1900, the Lacey Act changed hunting on all American bird species, though hunting continued illegally into 1920. Despite facing habitat loss and dilapidation since 1930, Great Egrets seem to be unfazed and have been able to maintain stable populations, placing them in the Least Concern according to the IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources)
However, egrets still face contaminated runoff from sewage treatment and farm fertilizers. Additionally, Great Egrets have variety of habitat preferences, so the potential for these problems to affect them on a larger scale still exists.
Great Egrets live in any marshy wetland, whether it be freshwater, brackish water, or saltwater. They live throughout the U.S. and southern Canada, but are mostly concentrated in the southeastern United States. Their diet consists mainly of small fish, but have also been known to prey on a variety of other organisms including: invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, and even birds.