---
title: "Grote zilverreiger"
description: "Ardea alba — Vogels. The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/great-egret
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Grote zilverreiger

> Ardea alba — Vogels. The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret.

- Scientific name: *Ardea alba*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Meren en rivieren)
- iNaturalist observations: 424301
- Wikidata: [Q130730](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q130730)
- iNaturalist taxon: [144455](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144455)

## Names

- en: Great Egret
- de: Silberreiher
- es: Garza blanca
- fr: Grande Aigrette
- nl: Grote zilverreiger
- pt: Garça-branca-grande
- pl: Czapla biała

## Countries with the most observations

US (219435), MX (30604), AU (17037), RU (12346), CA (12101), BR (8741), DE (7554), AR (5877), JP (4908), IT (4595), FR (4558), TW (4498)

## Summary

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret.  The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Recently, it has also been spreading to more northern areas of Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, it builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

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

## Photo

![Grote zilverreiger](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/great-egret/medium.jpg)

Photo: Chrissy McClarren and Andy Reago · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/285203731

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/great-egret?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).