Pacific reef heron
Egretta sacra (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
The Pacific reef heron (Egretta sacra) is a species in the family Ardeidae, order Pelecaniformes. Recorded adults weigh 500 g to 510.2 g and live up to 8.58 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the Pacific reef heron
- Weight
- 502 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 90 cm – 1 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 8.58 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 26.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3 – 3.75src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the Pacific reef heron?
Photos of the Pacific reef heron
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the Pacific reef heron live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The Pacific reef heron is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the Pacific reef heron?
The Pacific reef heron (Egretta sacra), also known as the eastern reef heron or eastern reef egret, is a species of heron found throughout southern Asia and Oceania. It occurs in two colour morphs with either slaty grey or pure white plumage. The sexes are similar in appearance.
From the Wikipedia article “Pacific reef heron” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacific_reef_heron&oldid=1351070929), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the Pacific reef heron endangered?
The Pacific reef heron is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the Pacific reef heron classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPelecaniformes
- familyArdeidae
- genusEgretta
- SpeciesEgretta sacra (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
Synonyms Ardea jugularis, Ardea sacra, Demigretta matook carteri, Demigretta ringeri, Demigretta sacra, Demigretta sacra buchanani, Demigretta sacra cooktowni, Demigretta sacra sacra, Demigretta sacra tormenti, Egretta brevipes
Other names and names in other languages (55)
- Blue reef heronEnglish
- Eastern reef egretEnglish
- Eastern reef egretEnglish
- Eastern reef heronEnglish
- Eastern reef-egretEnglish
- Pacific reef-egretEnglish
- Pacific reef-egretEnglish
- Pacific reef-egretEnglish
- Pacific reef-heronEnglish
- Reef heronEnglish
- Reef heronEnglish
- بلشون الحيد الشرقيArabic
- Усходняя рыфавая чапляBelarusian
- Източна рифова чаплаBulgarian
- Herlegon sakrBreton
- martinet sagratCatalan
- Chuchuko AtilongChamorro
- volavka pobřežníCzech
- crëyr traethau dwyreiniolWelsh
- Østlig RevhejreDanish
- RiffreiherGerman
- rifa egretardeoEsperanto
- Garceta de arrecifeSpanish
- rifi-siidhaigurEstonian
- korallihaikaraFinnish
- Aigrette sacréeFrench
- Éigrit sceire oirthearachIrish
- debelokljuna čapljaCroatian
- keleti zátonykócsagHungarian
- Cangak pasifikIndonesian
- Kuntul KarangIndonesian
- Garzetta di ReefItalian
- Garzetta del reef orientaleItalian
- クロサギJapanese
- 흑로Korean
- rifinis garnysLithuanian
- svētais gārnisLatvian
- Matuku moanaMāori
- oostelijke rifreigerDutch
- sothegreNorwegian
- SechouPalauan
- czapla czczonaPolish
- garça-sagradaPortuguese
- garça-dos-recifes-orientalPortuguese
- Восточная рифовая цапляRussian
- volavka posvätnáSlovak
- Pacifička čapljaSerbian
- korallhägerSwedish
- Otu'uTahitian
- นกยางทะเลThai
- MotukuTongan
- Pasifik Kıyı BalıkçılıTurkish
- чепура тихоокеанськаUkrainian
- 岩鷺Chinese
- 岩鹭Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the Pacific reef heron
Other species in the same genus Egretta.
Little egret
Egretta garzetta
Western reef heron
Egretta gularis
Snowy egret
Egretta thula
Tricolored heron
Egretta tricolor
Black heron
Egretta ardesiaca
Little blue heron
Egretta caerulea
ComparePacific reef heron vs Little egretPacific reef heron vs Western reef heronPacific reef heron vs Snowy egretPacific reef heron vs Tricolored heron
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the Pacific reef heron?
An adult Pacific reef heron weighs 502 g and has a wingspan of 90 cm – 1 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the Pacific reef heron live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the Pacific reef heron for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the Pacific reef heron endangered?
The Pacific reef heron is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the Pacific reef heron live?
The Pacific reef heron has a recorded lifespan of 8.58 years.
What kind of animal is the Pacific reef heron?
The Pacific reef heron (Egretta sacra) belongs to the family Ardeidae in the order Pelecaniformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Pacific reef heron (Egretta sacra). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/pacific-reef-heron
“Pacific reef heron (Egretta sacra).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/pacific-reef-heron.
@misc{pacific_reef_heron_2026,
title = {Pacific reef heron (Egretta sacra)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/pacific-reef-heron},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}