Often common and easy to spot in wet places ranging from marshes and tidal flats to small ponds, ditches, and damp fields. It nests in colonies high in trees. Usually encountered alone or in small groups, standing still at the water’s edge, and less often feeding out in fields. The plumage is largely grey with a paler neck; adults show a white crown, dark eye-stripes, and a black patch on the shoulder. In flight, like other herons and egrets, it pulls its neck back into a hunched shape.