These birds are members of the heron family. The twelve egret species are long-legged wading birds.
The English word “egret” comes from the French word aigrette. It refers to the egret’s long plume feathers that decorate hats or jewelry pieces that imitate a plume.
Because of the beauty of egret plumes, milliners embellished hats with them during the Victorian era. To feed this fashion craze, hunters harvested millions of wild birds for their feathers.