'' in
Kolleru,
Andhra Pradesh, India ,
E. novaehollandiae with a
frog The genus
Egretta was introduced in 1817 by the German naturalist
Johann Reinhold Forster with the
little egret as the
type species. The genus name comes from the
Provençal French for the
little egret,
aigrette, a diminutive of
aigron, "heron". As with other heron groupings, the taxonomy of these birds has been a source of dispute. Some of these species have been placed with the great herons in
Ardea, and conversely, the large white species such as the
great egret are occasionally allocated to
Egretta. The fact that some members of the genus have common names of "heron" and some of "egret", causes further confusion in differentiating between this genus and
Ardea. ==Species==