Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Great Egret
Scientific name: ardea alba
Domain: eukaryote
Kingdom: animal
Phylum: chordata
Class: aves
Order: saurischia
Family: ardrenidae
Genus: ardea alba
Species: alba

Great egrets are found in tidal marshes such as ponds, wetlands, and mud flats. They have bilateral symmetry. Great egrets have a white plumage, a neck shaped as an S, a long, yellow, spearlike bill, and black legs and feet. A behavioral adaptation of the great egret is that they have heavy wingbeats that help them fly by pushing the bird up and down. A structural adaptation is that they have a long neck so they can reach for the prey. A functional adaptation is that they plunge their spearlike bill into the water to capture their prey. An interesting fact about the great egret is that their bird call is a low “kuk-kuk-kuk”. Crows, vultures, and raccoons prey for their eggs. Their prey is fish, invertebrates, amphibians, and aquatic insects. Great egrets are heterotrophic and endothermic.

No comments:

Post a Comment