Little Egret

The old 1970’s Collins Birds of Britain and Europe shows conclusively the little egret to be a bird of the Mediterranean, with its range pushing up through Romania, Bulgaria and into southern France. Before 1957 there were only ever 23 recorded in the British Isles. A breeding colony established in Brittany in 1960 was the launch pad for crossing the Channel in 1980 with 600 sightings by 1990. The first recorded breeding in Ireland came in 1997 and by 2004 a breeding colony on 12 pairs was established in County Cork.

Clearly this is a bird with colonization on its mind, as slowly and steadily the little egret spreads ever further inland. Now we can report that 13 individuals were seen together at the Cabragh Wetlands at the beginning of March - an enormously exciting development, and possibly another sign that global warming is changing the range and behaviour of birds and other species.

The spectacular egret is a cousin of the heron, with pure white feathers making them easy to spot against the green and grey background of the Wetlands. In the breeding season they acquire a beautiful lacy plumage on back, breast and head. They are usually to be seen standing still at the water’s edge with head and neck suck into their chest, occasionally moving gracefully to stab downwards with their beak to feed on small fish.

In the late 19^th century the egret suffered appallingly for the sake of the fashion industry, which has prized egret feathers for at least 300 years. In 1914 an ounce of feathers was trading at up to 28 times the price of the same weight of silver –at today’s price, close to €1200 an ounce. Egret farms flourished with captive birds plucked four times a year, each producing about 9grams (1/3 ounce) of feathers. Wild breeding colonies were slaughtered; estimates range wildly, from 5 to 200 million killed annually.

It was in protest against this carnage in 1889 in Manchester that a society was formed, which in 1904 became the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, with Birdwatch Ireland a later offshoot.

Out of catastrophe good things can grow. Let’s enjoy the arrival of the egret.