The egret is a medium-sized wading bird that belongs to the genus Egret in the heron family. It has white plumage with a black beak and feet, and produces black feathers on its head during breeding. The egret's body length is between 82-98 centimeters and its weight is about 0.6-1 kilogram.

Egrets are widely distributed in temperate regions of the world, including Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. They usually inhabit rivers, lakes, rice paddies, seashores, estuaries, and their marshes in open plains and hilly areas. Egrets prefer to build nests in clusters, sometimes several or dozens of pairs in a tree at the same time.

Egrets feed mainly on insects, crustaceans, mollusks, aquatic insects, and small fish, frogs, tadpoles, and lizards. They carry out their activities during the day, moving cautiously and flying away when they encounter people. Egrets breed once a year, laying 3-6 eggs per clutch, which are incubated by the female for about 25 days. The young birds can fly and leave the nest after about 1 month of nest life.

The egret's feathers have a high economic value, and in ancient times Orientals liked to use them to decorate their clothes, while Westerners liked to use them to embellish women's hats. This, coupled with the fact that egrets like to live in groups, makes them easy to catch in large numbers, leading to a sharp decline in the number of wild egrets, which has almost fallen into extinction. The yellow-billed egret is one of China's first-class protected animals.