Chinese Egret

Description:

The Chinese Egret or Swinhoe's Egret, Egretta eulophotes, is a threatened species of egret from east Asia. It averages 68cm in height. The plumage is white throughout the bird's life and resembles the Little Egret Egretta garzetta. Outside the breeding season the bill is dusky with the basal portion being flesh coloured and the lores and legs are yellow-green, while the iris is yellow. All individuals are similar in this season. In the breeding season the adults develop a luxuriant crest which is sometimes over 11cm long. It also develops long lanceolate plumes on its breast and dorsal plumes extending beyond the tail, called aigrettes and similar to those of Little Egret. The bare parts change too, the bill becomes a bright, almost orange, yellow while the lores turn bright blue and the kegs black with yellow feet. It is a non-breeding passage migrant or winterer in Japan. It breeds on small islands off the coasts of far eastern Russia, North Korea, South Korea and mainland China. It is classified as Vulnerable, the biggest threat being habitat loss. SOURCE - Wikipedia

Habitat:

Outside the breeding season the Chinese Egret occurs in shallow tidal estuaries, mudflats and bays, occasionally visiting rice-fields and fish ponds. All recent breeding records have been from offshore islands.

Notes:

Observed in one of the large lotus ponds attached to Shirahata Shrine in Kamakura, Japan.