An Egret on the Alaska Peninsula

Observation by Shankell Mack:

Bird spotted on resident's roof. Identified as Great Egret. Is it common to have them in Alaska?

LEO Says:

A quick look on E-Bird and I-Naturalist appears the bird is a Great Egret like the observer initially sighted. We have included some additional resources on other types of Egret's such as the Cattle Egret and the 7 herons you might find/see in Alaska. Great Egret's main range appear to be in lower latitudes and it is unusual to see them in Alaska. We contacted US Fish and Wildlife Service for additional information on identification of the Great Egret and their range. Lars Flora

Consult by Kathy Kuletz at USFWS:

Yes it looks like a great egret to me, definitely not a cattle egret. It would be helpful to know the size but if its over 4 ft tall, with the large yellow beak and all black legs and feet - that would be a great egret. Its a very rare sighting in Alaska or anywhere north of southern Canada. It is otherwise found mainly in North and South America and Europe, but has records world-wide, though rare in sub-Arctic and Arctic. An online map from ebird shows a few recorded sightings of this species in the Aleutian Islands and coastal southcentral Alaska. Quite the find and great the observer got a good photograph!

Follow up comments by Shankell Mack

I've never been near the bird (usually in an across-the-street or below in-flight range) but with other birds, we have commonly in King Cove. I'd say it is 4 times bigger than a magpie and 3 times bigger than a crow. Weirdly enough those two birds were seen bullying this massive bird in little gangs. If I had to say a size, I would guesstimate 3 ft or more at least but that bird does have a huge wingspan.

Follow up comments by Kathy Kuletz

Could possibly be a young bird, and also its hunched over, but it does look pretty big.