Egret Or Heron? A Cross Stitch Image

Hello Steemit bird lovers. Found this cross-stitched piece, all framed up and about to be hanged somewhere in the house. Another of my wife's project although this was cross-stitched years ago and was just rolled up in one of her storage boxes. I guess she decided to finally mount it.

As I was looking at it, I wondered what kind of birds these could be? Looks like herons. But could they be egrets?

I did a bit of Googling as is wont nowadays when trying to figure something out. Here's what I came up with:

Great egrets are a little smaller than the white-phase great blue heron, but the real giveaway is the color of the legs. Great egrets have black legs while white-phase great blue herons have much lighter legs. Herons also have slightly heavier beaks and “shaggier” feathers on their breast.

Egrets are considered different from herons because egrets are mainly white, and they may or may not have decorative plumes. The word “egret” has been derived from the French word “aigrette” which means “plume feathers.”

The person who designed this pattern not only knew about cross stitching. He obviously knew the differences between the two and put them together in one picture. Clever.

Another look at the picture frame:

All for this post. Thanks for visiting. Have a blessed Sunday.

(All photos are mine.)