Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) complete detail – updated. Description of Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) – Bagula – Heron. Classification of Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis). Distribution of Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis). Cattle egret has a slightly hunched posture and white-grey plumage. The sexes differ in size and appearance, but only slightly, the male is marginally larger and has longer breeding plumes during the mating season. They generally prefers open grassland, grassy savanna, man-made fields and agricultural land, occasionally moving to the seashore………..
Habit and habitat of Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis). Cattle Egret generally prefers open grassland grassy savanna, man-made fields and agricultural land, occasionally moving to the seashore. Size between 45 cm. to 56 cm. Weigh between 265 to 550 g., and have a wingspan of 85-96 cm.
Adult Cattle Egrets are all white with a yellow bill and legs. In the breeding season it acquires delicate golden-buff hair-like plumes on head, neck and back. Juveniles have dark legs and bill. Immature cattle egrets have black legs and bills. During breeding season both bill and legs become pink to orange-red and has a brownish crown and chest. The bills of juveniles are black…………..
Nesting season depending on the monsoons, is mainly June to August in North India, and November/December in the south India. Throughout mating, nesting, and incubation, a Greeting Ceremony is given whenever one mate returns to the nest to join the other.
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Distinctive Identification
Size between 45 cm. to 56 cm. Weigh between 265 to 550 g., and have a wingspan of 85-96 cm. The basic plumage of the adult of both sexes is pure white, with a dull orange or yellow bill, and dull orange legs.
Cattle egret has short legs and a thick neck compared to other species of egrets. They have medium-length, broad, rounded wings.
Adult Cattle Egrets are all white with a yellow bill and legs. In the breeding season it acquires delicate golden-buff hair-like plumes on head, neck and back. Juveniles have dark legs and bill.
Immature cattle egrets have black legs and bills. During breeding season both bill and legs become pink to orange-red and has a brownish crown and chest. The bills of juveniles are black.
Cattle egret has a slightly hunched posture and white-grey plumage. The sexes differ in size and appearance, but only slightly, the male is marginally larger and has longer breeding plumes during the mating season.
Classification
Common Name – Cattle egret
Local Name – Bagula, Heron
Zoological Name – Bubulcus ibis
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Aves
Order – Pelecaniformes
Family – Ardeidae
Genus – Bubulcus
Conservational Status – Schedule – IV, according to wildlife (Protection) act, 1972 and classified as Least Concern (LC) by the IUCN.
Distribution
Cattle Egret found in Africa and the southern, warmer parts of Europe and Asia. Cattle Egret is found throughout India, Burma and Ceylon. Beyond—eastward—it extends to Korea.
Cattle Egret is also found in the tropics, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. The cattle egret is a non-native species in North America. It probably flew to South America from Africa and then moved up to the United States.
Habit and habitat
Cattle Egret generally prefers open grassland, grassy savanna, man-made fields and agricultural land, occasionally moving to the seashore.
The Cattle Egret is less dependent on the neighborhood of water than are most of its family. It is met with gregariously on grass- and pasture-land both on the margins of tanks and jheels as well as further inland.
The cattle egret is the most terrestrial heron, being well-adapted to many diverse terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Though it does not depend on aquatic habitats to survive, it does make frequent use of them, even when they are not close to livestock-grazing areas. They also well-adapted to urban areas.
They feed on grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, insects, worms, flies, frogs, cicada, lizards, fish and noctuid moths.
Most common call is a “rick, rack”, with the first syllable louder and higher-pitched. Cattle egrets are social birds. They gather in large colonies of cattle egrets and other bird species.
Nesting season, depending on the monsoons, is mainly June to August in North India, and November/December in the south India. The nest is of the usual crow pattern an untidy structure of twigs. It is built in trees not necessarily near water and often in a town or village.
Breeding starts when small groups of males establish territories. Soon after this, aggression increases, and they begin to perform various elaborate courtship displays, attracting groups of females. Immediately before pairing, a female will attempt to subdue the displaying male by landing on his back.
The female then follows the male to another site where the nest will be built. Nest made from sticks that the male has collected and the female has arranged. Copulation usually also takes place at this second site. The males will find a new mate each season.
Throughout mating, nesting, and incubation, a Greeting Ceremony is given whenever one mate returns to the nest to join the other. The Greeting Ceremony involves erection of the back plumes, and flattening of the crest feathers. Eggs are laid every 2 days, and the female does not become attentive to the nest until the last egg is laid.
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Eggs 3-5, pale skim milk blue in color. Incubation is carried out by both sexes. Incubation period is between 22 to 26 days.
The parents may accept chicks from other broods only if they are less than 14 days old. Most of the chicks’ growth is completed in the nest, by 15-22 days. Average lifespan is between 20 to 23 years.
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