The Story
I photographed this Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) near the Mai Po Marshes in Hong Kong’s northwest New Territories on March 22, 2018. In the 19th century it was hunted heavily in Western Europe for its plumes. It is a small white heron with a slender black bill and long black legs. It feeds in shallow water and on land, taking a variety of small creatures. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. The Mai Po Marshes nature reserve covers 380 acres on Deep Bay, a shallow estuary of international importance. Mai Po lies within the Inner Deep Bay Ramsar site, listed as a Wetland of International Importance in 1995.
I took this with a Pentax K-1 and the HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6ED DC AW, at 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, −1 EV. WWF’s work at Mai Po, including education and bird monitoring with public help, keeps this wetland open to people and safe for birds.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) 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