Maps of the birds of the Western Palearctic Region

Egretta ardesiaca
Marshes, lakes, flooded areas, mangroves. Breeding confirmed in Senegambia, Guinea-Bissau, s Mali, s Ghana, Nigeria, Chad, w,s Kenya, w Zambia, Angola, n Botswana, Zimbabwe and e S. Africa in Transvaal, e Orange Free State, Natal, se Cape Prov.; Madagascar. Also recorded in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo, Niger, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Cameroon, Zaire, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia.

Egretta thula
Marshes, lakes, ponds, lagoons, mangroves. Lowlands to 2600 m from n California, n Nevada, se Idaho, Montana, S. Dakota, c Kansas, c Oklahoma, Texas, Gulf coast, s Ontario, New England and Nova Scotia, s through e U.S., both slopes of Middle America, and W. Indies to Panama, and S. America s to c Chile to Chiloé I., and c Argentina to Córdoba and Buenos Aires.

Egretta gularis
Coasts, estuaries, mudflats, mangroves. Coasts and offshore islands in Cape Verde Is., sw Mauritania, Mali, Senegambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Fernando Po, Príncipe, São Tomé and Annobón islands in the Gulf of Guinea; coasts and islands of the Red Sea coast from Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Socotra I., n Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Aldabra and Comoros, Madagascar, Arabia, and Persian Gulf e to w coast of India, Sri Lanka and Laccadive Is.
E. gularis and E. dimorpha are sometimes treated as races of E. garzetta and reports of sympatry are unclear.
E. dimorpha has been treated as a race of E. gularis.
E. garzetta apparently has a rare black morph which adds to the confusion about the relationships among these species.

Egretta garzetta
Lakes, marshes, flooded fields, estuaries.
From Mediterranean region n to c France, Italy and Czechoslovakia; n Morocco and Tunisia; Nile Valley, e through Turkey, Near East, n Iraq, n Iran, Ukraine, lower Volga and Ural rivers, e Transcaucasus, Pakistan, India up to 1400 m; Sri Lanka, and s China to Taiwan and Japan n to c Honshu; s through Andaman and Nicobar islands and se Asia, E. Indies (migrant?), Philippines, Palau and New Guinea, Louisiade Arch., wo w,n,e Australia from ne W. Australia e to Queensland and s to Victoria and islands in Bass Strait, Tasmania. Breeding confirmed in Cape Verde Is., Senegambia, Mauritania, s Mali, s Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Lake Chad area, Sudan, Gabon, Angola, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and S. Africa. Also recorded in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Gulf of Guinea Is., Burkina Faso, Niger, C. Afr. Rep., Zaire, Congo, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Burundi, Malawi, Mozambique; Seychelles.

Egretta intermedia
(= Mesophoyx intermedia; Ardea intermedia ).

Marshes, flooded fields, swamps, estuaries, mangroves.

The three following subspecies are widely allopatric and morphologically distinct in color of soft parts, especially the bill and head; they may be allospecies.
A. i. brachyrhyncha Breeding confirmed in Mauritania, Mali, Senegambia, Nigeria, L. Chad area, Sudan, Ethiopia, possibly Congo, Zaire, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Angola, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa in Transvaal, Orange Free State, Natal and s,e Cape Prov. Also recorded in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Eritrea, Somalia, Cameroon, C. African Rep., Gabon, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia.
A. i. intermedia Lowlands to 1400 m from Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, s,e China and s Japan on Honshu and Shikoku, s through Andaman and Nicobar is. and se Asia to E. Indies in Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi; possibly vagrants only elsewhere.
A. i. plumifera New Guinea (possibly) and n,e,se Australia from ne W. Australia e to Queensland, s to Victoria and w to se S. Australia.