Western Reef Heron

Egretta gularis

Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Presence in the Strait: Vagrant
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Garceta dimorfa

Photograph: William Stephens, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 55–68 cm
Wingspan: 88–112 cm
Weight: 450 g

Presence in the Strait

Accidental. One female bird on a nest in the colony at Tajo de Barbate on 10.06.90, paired up with a Little Egret, and up to four eggs were laid.

Identification

Very like a Little Egret but with dark bluish-grey plumage and yellowish bill. They breed in Sub-Sahara Africa. Ardeidae ad.W Garcilla Bueyera ad.E Garceta Común ad.E Avetoro Común

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

100 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 10 September 2003
Latest record: 10 September 2003

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: Outside the Red List (not assessed)
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Little Egret55–65 cm · Resident · overlapping size
Great Egret80–104 cm · Vagrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
GBIF taxon key: 2480898

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: William Stephens, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Western Reef Heron

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery