heron; egret
General term for birds of the family Ardeidae, including herons and egrets. Often seen near water.
A heron was catching fish by the river.
A white egret is standing in the rice field.
grey heron; gray heron
medium egret; intermediate egret
great egret; great white egret
little egret
Usually written in katakana; the kanji form 鷺 is less common in everyday use.
Kanji form; may be encountered in literary or formal contexts.
Hiragana spelling; also used, but katakana is more common.
The origin is uncertain. The kanji 鷺 is a phono-semantic compound with 鳥 (bird) and 路 (phonetic component).