Little egret

Egretta garzetta

The Little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a bird found in India, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Netherlands, and 3 more countries. Wetlands, rice fields and shores across Europe, Africa and Asia. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, reptiles and frogs and fish. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Egretta garzetta
Region	Asia
Found in	India, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Netherlands, and 3 more countries

🏡 Where the Little egret lives

Wetlands, rice fields and shores across Europe, Africa and Asia.

🍽️ What it eats

🐛 Insects & bugs60%
🦎 Reptiles & frogs20%
🐟 Fish20%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It stirs the mud with its bright yellow feet to scare up fish.

Hear the Little egret

Recorded by Andrew McCafferty (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1186639. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Little egret

Where does the Little egret live?

The Little egret lives in India, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Netherlands, and 3 more countries. Wetlands, rice fields and shores across Europe, Africa and Asia.

What does the Little egret eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 60%), reptiles and frogs (about 20%), fish (about 20%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Little egret endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Asia

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.