---
title: "Western Reef Heron"
description: "Egretta gularis — Uccelli. The western reef heron (Egretta gularis), also called the western reef egret, is a medium-sized heron found in Africa and parts of Asia, with vagrancy occurring in Europe and the Americas."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/western-reef-heron
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Western Reef Heron

> Egretta gularis — Uccelli. The western reef heron (Egretta gularis), also called the western reef egret, is a medium-sized heron found in Africa and parts of Asia, with vagrancy occurring in Europe and the Americas.

- Scientific name: *Egretta gularis*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `sea` (Mare e costa)
- iNaturalist observations: 5012
- Wikidata: [Q392570](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q392570)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4935](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4935)

## Names

- en: Western Reef Heron
- de: Küstenreiher
- es: Garceta dimorfa
- fr: Aigrette des récifs
- nl: Westelijke rifreiger
- pt: Garça-dos-recifes
- pl: Czapla rafowa

## Countries with the most observations

IN (1043), EG (633), AE (605), GM (407), SN (304), OM (279), SA (122), IR (88), ST (86), BH (83), GH (71), IT (69)

## Summary

The western reef heron (Egretta gularis), also called the western reef egret, is a medium-sized heron found in Africa and parts of Asia, with vagrancy occurring in Europe and the Americas. It has a mainly coastal distribution and occurs in several plumage forms: a slaty-grey plumage which can only be confused with the rather uncommon dark morph of the little egret (Egretta garzetta); a white form which can look very similar to the little egret, although the reef heron's bill tends to be paler and larger; and a black form with a white throat, E. g. gularis, found in West Africa. There are also differences in size,…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_reef_heron

## Photo

![Western Reef Heron](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/western-reef-heron/medium.jpg)

Photo: Dario Taraborelli · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192923852

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/western-reef-heron?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).