Herons & Egrets in Somerset
Our list for Somerset has 7 herons & egrets recorded regularly there: 4 residents, 1 summer visitor and 2 scarce visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Somerset in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 7, most common first
Grey HeronArdea cinereaResidentCommon90–98 cmRecorded all year
Little EgretEgretta garzettaResidentCommon55–65 cmRecorded all year
Great White EgretArdea albaResidentCommon80–104 cmRecorded all year
Eurasian BitternBotaurus stellarisSummer visitorCommon69–81 cmRegularly Jan–Nov
Cattle EgretArdea ibisResidentUncommon46–56 cmRecorded all year
Purple HeronArdea purpureaScarceRare78–90 cm
Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticoraxScarceRare58–65 cmRegularly May
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Cattle Egret 46–56 cm
- Little Egret 55–65 cm
- Black-crowned Night-heron 58–65 cm
- Eurasian Bittern 69–81 cm
- Purple Heron 78–90 cm
- Great White Egret 80–104 cm
- Grey Heron 90–98 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made