Plumed egret
subspecies of bird
The plumed egret (Ardea plumifera) is a species of heron native to Australia and Oceania. Previously this species was regarded as a subspecies of the intermediate egret (Ardea intermedia sensu lato) alongside the Asian intermediate egret (A. (i.) intermedia) and the African yellow-billed egret (A. (i.) brachyrhyncha).
Taxonomy
The plumed egret was first formally described as Herodias plumiferus by the English ornithologist John Gould with its type locality given as New South Wales. This taxon has been regarded as a subspecies of the intermediate egret (Ardea intermedia) but on 26 September 2023 the International Ornithological Congress recognised the three subspecies of A. intermedia as valid species.
Description
The plumed egret is a medium-sized heron, 56 to 70 cm (22 to 28 in) in length with an all white plumage. In breeding plumage it develops long white frilly plumes from its breast and shoulders. In addition, the bill changes colour to red or orange with green lores and the tibia is red and the tarsus is black. Outside the breeding season the bill is yellow-orange with yellow lores and the legs are black.
Distribution and habitat
The plumed egret is found in Australasia and breeds in eastern Indonesia, Timor-Leste, New Guinea and Australia, with vagrants occurring in New Zealand and the Solomon Islands. This species is found in the shallow water at the edges of freshwater wetlands and the intertidal zone.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 29, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q27604541. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2023.
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This entry incorporates text from “Plumed egret” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.