General description ⁶

The cattle egret is a medium sized bird, with a 'hunched' posture, even when it is standing erect. In comparison to other egrets, it is short-legged and thick-necked. The total length of the bird ranges from 46-56 cm, and its wingspan averages 88-96 cm. The basic plumage of the adult of both sexes is pure white, with a dull orange or yellow bill, and dull orange legs. For a brief period of time during the breeding season, however, the plumage of the breeding adults is buffy at the head, neck and back, and the eyes, legs and bill are a vivid red.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Atamari, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Bubulcus_ibis_0019.jpg
2. (c) Kclama, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Cattle_Egret_in_Summer.jpg
3. (c) Ravi Vaidyanathan, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Cattle_egret.jpg/460px-Cattle_egret.jpg
4. (c) Ravi Vaidyanathan, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Cattleegret1.jpg/460px-Cattleegret1.jpg
5. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Arun_image17.jpg/460px-Arun_image17.jpg
6. (c) Katerina Tvardikova, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31846097

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• CalPhotos
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• NBN Atlas
• VertNet
• Xeno-canto

Range Map

(c) Discover Life and original sources, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC-SA)

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