These four birds are of medium size, about 45-90 cm. Among them, the great egret is large in size and has no crest and breastplate feathers; The middle egret is of medium size, with no crown but breastplate feathers; Little egrets and yellow-billed egrets are smaller, with crests and breastplates.
First of all, the great egret
He is about 90 centimeters in size, with ivory feathers and a black mouth. Great egrets mainly inhabit beaches, paddy fields, lakes and other wetlands, and generally only move during the day. Great egret is an endangered wild animal and a protected migratory bird.
Second, the Chinese egret
About 60-70 cm in size, with a white body and a black mouth. Habitat in rivers, lakes, beaches and other shallow waters. Generally alone or in groups of three or five, they are summer migratory birds in southern China. Chinese Egrets have been listed in the Agreement between People's Republic of China (PRC) and Japanese Governments on the Protection of Migratory Birds and Habitats.
Third, the little egret
The little egret is slender, milky white, with a yellow-green face and a black mouth. Little egrets often inhabit rice fields, swamps, ponds and other places and feed during the day. We often have one foot curled up under the abdomen, and the other foot is the little egret. The little egret belongs to the species on the list of the International Convention on Endangered Wild Animals.
Fourth, the yellow-billed egret
Medium size, about 46-65cm.
The yellow-billed egret's mouth is orange in summer and dark brown in winter. In summer, long decorative feathers grow on the back, shoulders and front neck, which are called "withering feathers". In winter, all these feathers disappear. The yellow-billed egret is an international endangered species, belonging to the national second-class key protected animals.
Egret feathers are beautiful, but they are also easy to attract people's attention. Egrets are on the verge of extinction because of human's wanton killing. Therefore, egrets are now included in the ranks of protected animals all over the world.
Egrets mainly feed on various small fish, amphibians and crustaceans. They often walk by the water to find food, peck at the target quickly, and sometimes stand by for a long time, waiting for the opportunity to prey on the small fish that swim by.
Egrets are widely distributed in China, including Heilongjiang River Basin in Northeast China, central and western Xinjiang, northwestern Gansu, Hebei, Sichuan, Hubei, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong and other places. Because of the different climate, egrets in northern China belong to summer migratory birds, and generally migrate to warm places in the south for winter. In China, Yunnan and other places, egrets belong to resident birds, and in Hainan Island and Taiwan Province Island, egrets belong to winter migratory birds.