When the egret feeds, it gently wades into the water and strolls forward, looking at the small animals in the water, then suddenly pecks into the water with its long beak to accurately peck the food into its mouth. Sometimes they also stand at the water's edge, waiting for an opportunity to prey on passing fish.
The egret inhabits coastal islands, coasts, bays, estuaries, and rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, rice paddies, and marshes near the coast. Individuals, pairs or integrated small groups can be seen, and occasionally there are dozens of them together in large groups. During the day, they tend to fly to streams, rivers, salt flats and rice paddies near the coast to move around and feed.