Cattle Egret

Description:

It has a relatively short thick neck, sturdy bill, and a hunched posture. The non-breeding adult has mainly white plumage, a yellow bill and greyish-yellow legs. During the breeding season, adults of the nominate western subspecies develop orange-buff plumes on the back, breast and crown, and the bill, legs and irises become bright red for a brief period prior to pairing. The sexes are similar, but the male is marginally larger and has slightly longer breeding plumes than the female; juvenile birds lack coloured plumes and have a black bill. Adapted to foraging on land, they have lost the ability possessed by their wetland relatives to accurately correct for light refraction by water.

Habitat:

This is the first time in a year that I have seen a Cattle Egret at the Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary.

Notes:

The male displays in a tree in the colony, using a range of ritualised behaviours such as shaking a twig and sky-pointing (raising bill vertically upwards). The species is usually found with cattle and other large grazing and browsing animals, and catches small creatures disturbed by the mammals.