The Story
I photographed this Great Egret (Ardea alba) from the Ferry Marcopolo on the Orteguaza River at Puerto Arango, near Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2020. Standing up to a meter tall, it is widely distributed around the world. It builds its stick nests in colonies near water. Its body mass ranges from 700 to 1,500 grams. A study of its parasites found that young birds carried fewer species than adults but heavier infections. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 1600, −1.3 EV. From the Marco Polo ferry, on a two-hour trip along the Orteguaza River, passengers see the Hacha River flow into the Orteguaza and watch for birds.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Great Egret (Ardea alba) belongs to the family Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
