Dinner Dance

Like a ballet dancer dressed in white, with slim legs and a long, graceful neck, the Great Egret performs on its natural stage

By ITSIK MAROM
Great Egret 311 (photo credit: Itsik Marom)
Great Egret 311
(photo credit: Itsik Marom)
Like a ballet dancer dressed in white, with slim legs and a long, graceful neck, the Great Egret performs on its natural stage. Never far from rivers, lakes or pools, its dance steps have a purpose much more basic than a ballet routine.
The egret is there for the food. Every organ in its streamlined body has been shaped by evolution to give this bird the fastest, snake-like strike, using its sharp yellow beak as a spear to nail slippery fish in the water.
The great egret is one of the largest water birds. Its body measures one meter, with the beak itself 12 centimeters long. Its wingspan reaches two meters; but with all that great body size, the bird is very light, weighing only around a kilogram. That is one of the reasons why it looks so graceful and gentle in flight.
The great egret comes to Israel in the autumn and stays all winter, leaving us in the early spring. Its diet consists mainly of fish, but if the opportunity arises, the egret won’t ignore frogs, small mammals, reptiles or even small, unsuspecting birds.
The bird spends the day near bodies of fresh water, usually alone; but when there is a good source of fish, a few of them will flock together. However, woe betide the egret that does not keep a minimum distance of two meters from its neighbor. If this happens, the latter will stretch out its long beak threateningly and the two birds will point their yellow “swords” at each other until one of them decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and retreats. Otherwise, serious injury can result.
The great egret is a successful species that can be seen almost all over the world. Our sub-species, Egretta alba, spends the summer in Eastern Europe, where it breeds in colonies.
A successful, or lucky, bird can make up to 23 visits to Israel during its relatively long life.
Itsik Marom is a nature photographer. More of his work can be seen at www.imnaturephoto.com