All my life I’ve seen egrets around this area, almost exclusively outside the cities in the farm land and foothills. They are quite commonly seen poking around the fields, never very close, but not so far away from roads.

Occasionally you’ll spot some in the large grassy fields found at schools as well.

But until just now I’ve never seen them in a neighborhood… but I just pulled up to my house and heard a loud rustling behind me and turned around to see a large white egret perched on a big redwood tree across the street. As I looked at it and thought “how odd”, I noticed 2 more in the tree.

Then more started arriving and landed in the tree. And more. And more.

I swear there must have been 30 of them in that tree by the time I went inside. What gives?! I’ve never seen more than 3-4 in one place at one time, never seen them outside of a field setting, let alone in a city neighborhood, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one perched on a tree.

It kinda weirds me out, actually. Wtf are those egrets up to?,

I think Alfred Hitchcock made a movie about something similar.

Where I used to fish in Florida, an Egret would stroll over to me and hang out while I fished in hopes I would give him a fish.
Why fish for yourself when this dude will give you a fish? Smart bird.

There’s Great Egrets, for instance, and Cattle Egrets. Cattle Egrets are often seen in flocks the size you describe. Maybe you’re used to seeing a more solitary species and have just encountered a flock of Cattle Egrets. Your neighbor have a cow in his backyard?

Egrets eat more than fish and are as opportunistic as any predator. They will eat anything they can catch and swallow. Fish, insects, reptiles, amphibians, other birds, mammals, anything. Image search what egrets eat. Everything.

While in Dry Tortuga’s, I saw a cattle egret gulp down a swallow that wasn’t paying attention. Perhaps your visitors discovered a temporary food source.

quote:

Originally posted by MRMATT:
I think Alfred Hitchcock made a movie about something similar.

Yeah, if you spot Tippi Hedren, stay inside!

Seriously, what congregates animals? The pormise of food or sex, something along those lines was going on.

Egrets are known to breed in California, but I don't know the seasonality. Did the OP observe any nest building behavior? Apparently, a female ready to breed will attract a group of males who all compete for her favors. So maybe you are seeing the egret version of a party bar on Saturday night.

Its almost the end of the year and I have no egrets.

They are tall and white too..

When I was a teenager we went up to a place on the west edge of Glacier Nat'l Park in Montana, where literally hundreds of Bald Eagles would congregate in the trees. There's a river running right there that was full of spawning fish, and I guess it was a favorite resting/feeding spot on the eagles' migration route. Does you neighbor have a Koi pond or something?

Are you sure they weren’t buzzards?

In Marin County, there is a nature reserve called Audubon Ranch. At a certain time of year—I think mating time, of course—hundreds of egrets perch in the trees, just a you are describing.
Maybe rents got too high in Marin and they decided to move to the Valley like everyone else?
I’d just call it egretification.

They are the Cosmo Kramer in the Avian world

Egrets? I've had a few.

Backyard at Chez Clubleaf a number of years ago, it had been a really wet Spring and the population exploded.

In the summer a large flock of them sleep in my tree in the backyard that hangs over the water.

No more egret sightings today.

As far as what that guy has in his backyard I couldn’t tell ya, but it’s not a big yard and a cow would surely draw the ire of both direct neighbors and city officials.

I’ll keep my shotgun loaded in case the egrets return and get shady.

The egrets are back and they are being loud and vocalizing.

Same neighbor, same tree.

The plot thickens.