Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, it builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

The great egret was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Ardea alba.

[13] Owing to its wide distribution across so much of the Americas, as well as Africa, Europe and Asia, the great egret shares its habitat with many other similar species.

In the Americas, the snowy egret (Egretta thula)—a medium-sized heron that shares the same habitat as the great egret—is one such species.

[14] The great egret is generally a very successful species with a large and expanding range, occurring worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats.

[1] In North America, large numbers of great egrets were killed around the end of the 19th century so that their plumes, known as "aigrettes", could be used to decorate hats.

However, in some parts of the southern United States, its numbers have declined due to habitat loss, particularly wetland degradation through drainage, grazing, clearing, burning, increased salinity, groundwater extraction and invasion by exotic plants.

[1] The great egret is partially migratory, with northern hemisphere birds moving south from areas with colder winters.

[citation needed] On 22 May 2012, a pair of great egrets was observed nesting in the UK for the first time at the Shapwick Heath nature reserve in Somerset.

[17][18] The following week, Kevin Anderson of Natural England confirmed a great egret chick had hatched, making it a new breeding bird record for the UK.

[24][25] In 2018, a pair of great egrets nested in Finland for the first time, raising four young in a grey heron colony in Porvoo.

[26] The species breeds in colonies in trees close to large lakes with reed beds or other extensive wetlands, preferably at height of 10–40 feet (3.0–12.2 m).

A long-running field study (1962–2013) suggested that the great egrets of central Europe host 17 different helminth species.

[33] An airbrushed photograph of a great egret in breeding plumage by Werner Krutein is featured in the cover art of the 1992 Faith No More album Angel Dust.