Great White Egret (Ardea alba)Distribution and seasonality in the UK
Resident · reporting peaks August to November · Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns · BOU category A
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.
Great White Egret has been recorded in 1,016 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (34%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Wales and Scotland. Reporting peaks in August to November.
This species is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is an offence to disturb it at or near the nest without a licence. Breeding-season distribution is not shown and square-level counts are withheld.
- Very high
- 30% or more of visits
- High
- 8% to 30%
- Moderate
- 2% to 8%
- Low
- under 2%
- Surveyed, not recorded
- at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
- Insufficient records
- too few visits to say
- Not shown in the breeding season
- sensitive breeding species
- Lighter fill
- Few visits, lower confidence
- Small dot
- Occasional: a single record, or out of season
Seasonality
| Month | Relative to peak | Share of visits | Typical class |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 5% | Very high |
| February | 69% | 4% | Very high |
| March | 54% | 3% | Very high |
| April | 43% | 3% | Insufficient records |
| May | 37% | 2% | Insufficient records |
| June | 39% | 3% | Insufficient records |
| July | 60% | 4% | Insufficient records |
| August | 85% | 5% | Insufficient records |
| September | 96% | 6% | Moderate |
| October | 100% | 6% | High |
| November | 93% | 6% | High |
| December | 75% | 5% | High |