CATTLE EGRET

L 17" W 37"

FIELD IDENTIFICATION: Field marks to look for are: yellow to orange beak, and white plumage, except during breeding when it has a buffy-orange crest, breast, and shoulders.  It has shorter legs than other egrets that are yellowish to pinkish in adults.  It is often found near livestock feeding on insects. This Old World species is quite numerous in Wise County.

Cattle Egret in full breeding plumage.

Fledging Cattle Egrets

Photographs by David Hastings.