Bird

Great Egret

Ardea alba

Names as given by USGS GAP.

Year-round in Florida, breeding, in the USGS range maps. Its habitat models include 18 habitats found here.

Seasons here: Year-round
Breeding: Breeding
Range: 67 of 67 counties
Habitats: 18

Adult Great Egret, whole bird — **Adult**. (c) Robert Roach, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 513149977. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Seasons in Florida: Year-round
Breeding: Breeding
Counties in known range: 67 of 67
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

Southeast habitat models (USGS, 2001 land cover). The bird is not in every place a habitat occurs. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models Summer model Winter model

Habitats in Florida 18

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. Shared habitat, not food.

1 of 18

Summer and winterSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier; South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh; Floridian Highlands Freshwater MarshRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Summer and winterSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; South Florida Bayhead Swamp; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp; South Florida Cypress Dome; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress DomeRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal swamps, Florida to Virginia; state not identified, a neighboring state.Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach; Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Southeast Florida Beach; South Florida Shell Hash Beach; Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation; Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach; Southwest Florida Beach; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland; Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal Plain hammocks

Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.

Summer and winterSouth Florida Hardwood Hammock; Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

Summer and winterSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

Summer and winter

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

Summer and winterCentral Florida Herbaceous Pondshore; Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Summer and winter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest; Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

Summer and winterFlorida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Mangrove swamps

Tidal forests and thickets of red, black and white mangrove along sheltered tropical and subtropical shores.

Summer and winter

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

Summer and winterSouthwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock; Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock; East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest

Pine flatwoods

Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.

Summer and winterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier; South Florida Pine Flatwoods; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods; Central Florida Pine Flatwoods; East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

Summer and winterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh; Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

Summer and winterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Other habitats in its models (66)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Florida.

Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter. Only within 1,000 m of water
Developed, Medium Intensity Summer and winter. Only within 1,000 m of water
Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter
Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter
Upper Texas Coast Beach Summer and winter
Louisiana Beach Summer and winter
Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer and winter
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer and winter
Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Summer and winter. Only within 1,000 m of water
Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer and winter. Only within 1,000 m of water
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest Summer and winter. Only within 1,000 m of water
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter
Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Summer and winter
Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter
South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter
Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer and winter
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter
Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter
Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer and winter
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer and winter
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer and winter
Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter
Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer and winter
Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Summer and winter
Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter
Cumberland Riverscour Summer and winter
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter
Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter
Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter
South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer and winter
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer and winter
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain Summer and winter
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer and winter
Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter
North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter