egret, egrets

There are at least two subspecies of Little Egret. The nominate subspecies E. g. garzetta occurs in Europe, Africa and Asia. E. g. nigripes breeds in Indonesia and Australasia. Those in Australia are sometimes thought to represent a third subspecies E. g. immaculata.

Several other egret taxa have at times been classified as subspecies of the Little Egret in the past but are now regarded as separate species. The Western Reef-Egret, Egretta gularis occurs on the coastline of West Africa (race gularis) and from the Red Sea to India (race schistacea). The Dimorphic Egret, Egretta (garzetta/gularis) dimorpha is found in East Africa, Madagascar, the Comoros and the Aldabra Islands.