Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret, breeding plumage.

About the photographs

About the map

Play sound from this species

Menu

1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A small white heron of pastures and roadsides, the Cattle Egret is more at home foraging in grass than in water. It follows cattle, horses, and tractors to catch the insects they stir up.

Description

• Medium-sized all-white heron.
• Sturdy yellow bill.
• Dark legs and feet.
• Swollen throat.
• Rather short, thick neck for a heron.

• Size: 46-56 cm (18-22 in)
• Wingspan: 88-96 cm (35-38 in)
• Weight: 270-512 g (9.53-18.07 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes similar.

Sound

Quiet away from breeding colony. Quiet, throaty "rick-rack."

Conservation Status

May still be expanding breeding range, but populations in some areas declining.

Other Names

Héron garde-boeufs (French)
Depulgabuey, Garrapatosa, Garrapatera, Garza de ganado, Garza de vaquèra, Garcita de ganado, Garcilla garrapatera, Garcilla bueyera (Spanish)
Buff-backed Heron (English)

Cool Facts

• The Cattle Egret is native to Africa and Asia, and only reached the Americas in the late 19th century. It was first found in northeastern South America in 1877, having probably arrived there from Africa. It reached the United States in 1941, and started nesting by 1953. In the next 50 years it became one of the most abundant of the North American herons. It has occurred all the way to Alaska and Newfoundland, and has bred in nearly all states.

• The Cattle Egret is an opportunistic feeder, and will follow large animals or machines to catch insects they stir up. It also is attracted by smoke from a large fire. Egrets come from long distances to catch insects trying to escape the fire.

• The Cattle Egret occasionally adds birds to its diet. At Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas off the coast of Florida, migrating Cattle Egrets land on the large green lawn inside the fort, probably hoping for some nice grasshoppers. Because no insects are there to be had, the egrets try to catch the migrating warblers that also have stopped on the tiny island.

Sources used to construct this page:

Telfair, R. C. II. 1994. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis). In The Birds of North America, No. 113 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.