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Cattle Egret (anomolous colour)
Bubulcus ibis
-24.3971, 26.1035
Field Notes
Description:
Normally a white bird with a limited amount of buff on head, breast and mantle when breeding. This bird was observed in mid winter however so it should be in a non breeding condition and more white. Immature birds are pure white with completely dark legs. This bird was in the company of 4 other cattle egrets of normal colouration, it was the same size and displaying typical Cattle Egret behaviour around a small group of grazing cattle.
Habitat:
Usually roosts near water but forages up to 20km from roost during the day time. Food consists mainly of insects in grassland, tends to stay in small loose flocks of 5 - 20 birds and frequently associates with large herbivorous animals taking advantage of their disturbance of the grass dwelling insects. They also pick ticks from the legs of the grazing animals
Notes:
This individual was foraging along with a small group of normal colour egrets. Its similar size and behaviour identified it as a Cattle Egret. I'm not sure about the leg colour, it appears a bit dark with yellow thighs in photo 4 which is diagnostic of the Yellow billed Egret (Egretta intermedia) but then it should have been noticeably bigger, but the photos are not that clear. I saw the bird twice, the second time (without a camera) was about 3 weeks after the first siting and within half a km
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