Scientific name:
Egretta garzetta

Natural spread:
Europe, Asia, Africa, America

the 7 types of the type Egretta is moderate-sized until small herons with fully white plumage and long jewelry-feathers ("heron-feathers") at the back, in the crop-region and 2 especially long feathers at the head. Since also the people liked to decorate themselves with these splendid feathers, one put silk-herons already in the Middle ages, really however (and in many bigger range) in the modern time after, until these beautiful waders were wiped out largely in Europe. Also some of the nahverwandten types of Asia, Africa and America were pursued because of their feathers desired as fashion-jewelry here and there. Coast-herons big with the 56 cm (E). gularis, steps - also like with the 65 cm long reef-heron (E). sacra, from southeast-Asia and the Australian area - more frequently gray and black color-phases on.

Way of life, occurrences In its biology doesn't differ very strongly of each other finished heron of the type Egretta, deep these 55-70 cm, even if many types of inhabitants of the Meeresküsten are and are.

The 56-60 cm big and 0,4-0,5 heavy silk-herons are in 5 races over Southern Europe, means, and South-Asia (until South-Japan and to the Philippines) - north - and East-Australia (including Tasmania), New Guinea as well as over Africa and Madagascar spreads. With the European silk-herons, black individuals only very rarely comes be black birds no rarity particularly before, while with African populations. One can the small, snow-white silk-herons from the much bigger, until 90 cm long silver-herons (Casmerodius albus), whom the same spread-area, on the basis of the jewelry-feathers at head and neck as well as at the fully black beak, that distinguishes black runs and yellow toes, has here and there.

Nutrition Also in the behavior, silk-herons show clear contrasts fast to silver-herons, who hunt completely after type of the herons, during silk-herons in the shallow water around-runs and through it startled small fish, amphibians, cancer-animals and insects as well as all sorts of worms and mollusks with reaction-leaps beak-pushes carries off. However, silk-herons also sometimes hunt from a Lauerstellung out, in that fast it a foot - and herschwenken, all the loot-animals, to startle.

Brood As very sociable birds (more than other European herons), silk-herons nest in colonies and almost always actually are socialized with other heron-types there. In Europe, the migratory birds arrive at its hatcheries until May in March. Wetlands with sufficient Gebüschbewuchs and individual trees (recently to ever stronger extent also paddies) offer silk-herons of suitable Nistmöglichkeiten, at which both brood-partners erect (as well as densely over the ground as also up to 20 m high in trees) its brushwood-nests together or repair last year's constructions.

The nest consists of 3-5 (rarely up to 8) eggs (4,6x3,4 cm) and becomes erbrütet from both alto-birds for 21-22 days. Both partners take over also the supply of the nestlings (duration 30 days). Silk-herons become sexually mature in its first year of life; the young herons move after the independent-development occasionally far around ("inter-train") and appear occasionally also in Central Europe on that occasion.

Winter-quarters The most important winter-quarters lie in Africa (as far as to the cape of the good hope) as well as. in South-Asia. From time to time, however, smaller groups of silk-herons spend the winter already in the Mediterranean-area. A rung Spanish bird crossed even the Atlantic and was proved on Trinidad.