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Cattle Egret in Plumage, Bubulcus ibis, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Karnataka, India

A cattle egret walking through the grass near a pond. they are in their non-breeding plumage.

White egret birds (egretta garzetta) are standing in a watery paddy field looking for food, is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae, an aquatic bird, consuming a variety of small creatures

an Egret rests on a tree off the coast of western Florida

close up of a Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) with green grass in the background

The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret[2] or great white heron[3][4][5] is a large, widely distributed egret, with four subspecies found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe, recently also spreading to more northern areas of Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, it builds tree nests in colonies close to water.

$Western Cattle Egret.\nThe western cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Most taxonomic authorities lump this species and the eastern cattle egret together (called the cattle egret), but some (including the International Ornithologists' Union) separate them. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world in the last century.\n\nIt is a white bird adorned with buff plumes in the breeding season. It nests in colonies, usually near bodies of water and often with other wading birds. The nest is a platform of sticks in trees or shrubs. Western cattle egrets exploit drier and open habitats more than other heron species. Their feeding habitats include seasonally inundated grasslands, pastures, farmlands, wetlands and rice paddies. They often accompany cattle or other large mammals, catching insect and small vertebrate prey disturbed by these animals. Some populations of the cattle egret are migratory and others show post-breeding dispersal.\n\nThe adult cattle egret has few predators, but birds or mammals may raid its nests, and chicks may be lost to starvation, calcium deficiency or disturbance from other large birds. This species maintains a special relationship with cattle, which extends to other large grazing mammals; wider human farming is believed to be a major cause of their suddenly expanded range. The cattle egret removes ticks and flies from cattle and consumes them. This benefits both species, but it has been implicated in the spread of tick-borne animal diseases.$