Western cattle egret

{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = Kuhreiher am Strand in Ägypten 9528BE.jpg | image_caption = Western cattle egret in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt | genus = Ardea | species = ibis | authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | synonyms = ''Ardeola ibis'' (Linnaeus, 1758)  ''Egretta ibis'' (Linnaeus, 1758) ''Lepterodatis ibis'' (Linnaeus, 1758) ''Bubulcus ibis'' (Linnaeus, 1758) }}

[[File:Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) summer plumage head Cyprus.jpg|thumb|Summer plumage, Cyprus]] The '''western cattle egret''' ('''''Ardea ibis''''') is a species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Formerly, most taxonomic authorities lumped this species and the eastern cattle egret together (called the cattle egret), but the two cattle egrets are now treated as separate species. 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 Africa, southwest Asia and southern Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the New World in the last century.

It 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.

The 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.

==Taxonomy== upright|thumb|left|Adult in winter plumage, France The cattle egret was first described in 1758 by Linnaeus in his ''Systema naturae'' as ''Ardea ibis'',<ref name=Linnaeus1758/> based on specimens from Egypt.<ref name=HBW/> It was transferred to the genus ''Bubulcus'' by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1855,<ref name=Bonaparte/> but then moved back to the genus ''Ardea'' based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2023 that found the cattle egrets were embedded with members of the genus ''Ardea''.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/pelicans/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=26 September 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Hruska | first1=J.P. | last2=Holmes | first2=J. | last3=Oliveros | first3=C. | last4=Shakya | first4=S. | last5=Lavretsky | first5=P. | last6=McCracken | first6=K.G. | last7=Sheldon | first7=F.H. | last8=Moyle | first8=R.G. | date=2023 | title=Ultraconserved elements resolve the phylogeny and corroborate patterns of molecular rate variation in herons (Aves: Ardeidae) | journal=Ornithology | volume=140 | issue=2 | article-number=ukad005 | doi=10.1093/ornithology/ukad005}}</ref> The genus name ''Ardea'' is the Latin word for a "heron".<ref>{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Ardea | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Ardea | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=25 September 2024 }}</ref> ''Ibis'' is a Latin and Greek word which originally referred to another white wading bird, the sacred ibis,<ref name=Webster/> but was applied to this species in error.<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n201 201]}}</ref>

Despite superficial similarities in appearance, the cattle egret is more closely related to the genus ''Ardea'', which comprises the great or typical herons and the great egret (''A. alba''), than to the majority of species termed egrets in the genus ''Egretta''.<ref name=Sheldon/> Rare cases of hybridization with little blue herons ''Egretta caerulea'', little egrets ''Egretta garzetta'' and snowy egrets ''Egretta thula'' have been recorded.<ref name=McCarthy2006/>

==Description== The cattle egret is a stocky heron with an {{Convert|88|-|96|cm|abbr=on}} wingspan; it is {{Convert|46|-|56|cm|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{Convert|270|-|512|g|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Cornell/> It has a relatively short thick neck, a sturdy bill, and a hunched posture. The non-breeding adult has mainly white plumage, a yellow bill and greyish-yellow legs. During the breeding season, adults of the nominate western subspecies develop orange-buff plumes on the back, breast and crown, and the bill, legs and irises become bright red for a brief period prior to pairing.<ref name=Krebs2004/> The sexes are similar, but the male is marginally larger and has slightly longer breeding plumes than the female; juvenile birds lack coloured plumes and have a black bill.<ref name=Cornell/><ref name=NMcKilligan/>

The positioning of the egret's eyes allows for binocular vision during feeding,<ref name=Martin1994/> and physiological studies suggest that the species may be capable of crepuscular or nocturnal activity.<ref name=Rojas1999/> Adapted to foraging on land, they have lost the ability possessed by their wetland relatives to correct for light refraction by water accurately.<ref name=Katzir1999/>

This species gives a quiet, throaty ''rick-rack'' call at the breeding colony, but is otherwise largely silent.<ref name=BNA/>

==Distribution and habitat== <div style="float:right;clear:right;"> thumb|Range expansion in the Americas (click to magnify) </div>

The cattle egret has undergone one of the most rapid and wide reaching natural expansions of any bird species.<ref name=BNA/> It was originally native to parts of southern Spain and Portugal, tropical and subtropical Africa and western Asia. In the end of the 19th century it began expanding its range into southern Africa, first breeding in the Cape Province in 1908.<ref name=HBW/> Cattle egrets were first sighted in the Americas on the boundary of Guiana and Suriname in 1877, having apparently flown across the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name=Krebs/><ref name=Cornell/> It was not until the 1930s that the species is thought to have become established in that area.<ref name=Crosby/>

The species first arrived in North America in 1941; these early sightings were originally dismissed as escapees. It first bred in Florida in 1953, and spread rapidly, breeding for the first time in Canada in 1962.<ref name=HBW/> It is now commonly seen as far west as California. It was first recorded breeding in Cuba in 1957, in Costa Rica in 1958, and in Mexico in 1963, although it was probably established before that.<ref name=Crosby/> In Europe, the species had historically declined in Spain and Portugal, but in the latter part of the 20th century it expanded back through the Iberian Peninsula, and then began to colonise other parts of Europe; southern France in 1958, northern France in 1981 and Italy in 1985.<ref name=HBW/> Breeding in the United Kingdom was recorded for the first time in 2008 only a year after an influx seen in the previous year.<ref name=BBC/><ref name=Nightingale2008/> In 2008, cattle egrets were also reported as having moved into Ireland for the first time.<ref name=Barrett2008/>

The massive and rapid expansion of the cattle egret's range is due to its relationship with humans and their domesticated animals. Originally adapted to a commensal relationship with large grazing and browsing animals, it was easily able to switch to domesticated cattle and horses. As the keeping of livestock spread throughout the world, the cattle egret was able to occupy otherwise empty niches.<ref name=Botkin2001/> Many populations of cattle egrets are highly migratory and dispersive,<ref name=BNA/> and this has helped the species' range expansion. The species has been seen as a vagrant in various sub-Antarctic islands, including South Georgia, Marion Island, the South Sandwich Islands and the South Orkney Islands.<ref name=Silva1995/> A small flock of eight birds was also seen in Fiji in 2008.<ref name=Dutson2007/>

In addition to the natural expansion of its range, cattle egrets have been deliberately introduced into a few areas. The species was introduced to Hawaii in 1959. Successful releases were also made in the Seychelles and Rodrigues, but attempts to introduce the species to Mauritius failed. Numerous birds were also released by Whipsnade Zoo in England, but the species was never established.<ref name=Lever/>

Although the cattle egret sometimes feeds in shallow water, unlike most herons it is typically found in fields and dry grassy habitats, reflecting its greater dietary reliance on terrestrial insects rather than aquatic prey.<ref name=Collins/>

==Migration and movements== Some populations of cattle egrets are migratory, others are dispersive, and distinguishing between the two can be difficult for this species.<ref name=BNA/> In many areas populations can be both sedentary and migratory. In the northern hemisphere, migration is from cooler climes to warmer areas. Migration in western Africa is in response to rainfall, and in South America migrating birds travel south of their breeding range in the non-breeding season.<ref name=BNA/>

Young birds are known to disperse up to {{convert|5,000|km|mi|abbr=on}} from their breeding area. Flocks may fly vast distances and have been seen over seas and oceans including in the middle of the Atlantic.<ref name=Arendt1988/> [[File:Bubulcus ibis - Cattle egret (flock).jpg|thumb|A flock in a tree at Jacutinga, Minas Gerais state, Brazil]]

==Status== This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of {{convert|10000000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. On the other hand, the expansion and establishment of the species over large ranges has led it to be classed as an invasive species (although little, if any impact has been noted yet).<ref name=GISS/>

==Breeding== <gallery mode="packed" heights="150px"> File:Bubulcus ibis -Dallas, Texas, USA -flying-8.jpg|Flying in Dallas, Texas, with a twig in its beak for its nest File:Contentment (19618213363).jpg|Adult on nest, Orlando, Florida File:Cattle Egret with Nestlings (49440219687).jpg|Adult with chicks, Tampa, Florida File:Bubulcus ibis -Gambia -frog in beak-8.jpg|Eating a frog in the Gambia File:Airone guardabuoi (Bubulcus ibis L.).jpg|Juvenile in Italy; when newly fledged, it has a black bill, but this soon turns yellow from the base File:Héron garde-bœufs MHNT.jpg|Cattle egret egg </gallery>

The cattle egret nests in colonies, which are often, but not always, found around bodies of water.<ref name=BNA/> The colonies are usually found in woodlands near lakes or rivers, in swamps, or on small inland or coastal islands, and are sometimes shared with other wetland birds, such as herons, egrets, ibises and cormorants. The North American breeding season lasts from April to October.<ref name=BNA/> In the Seychelles, the breeding season is April to October.<ref name=Seychelles/>

The male displays in a tree in the colony, using a range of ritualised behaviour such as shaking a twig and sky-pointing (raising his bill vertically upwards),<ref name=Hanzab/> and the pair forms over three or four days. A new mate is chosen in each season and when re-nesting following nest failure.<ref name=kushlan/> The nest is a small untidy platform of sticks in a tree or shrub constructed by both parents. Sticks are collected by the male and arranged by the female, and stick-stealing is rife.<ref name=NMcKilligan/> The clutch size can be anywhere from one to five eggs, although three or four is most common. The pale bluish-white eggs are oval-shaped and measure {{Convert|45|x|53|mm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Ber93/> Incubation lasts around 23 days, with both sexes sharing incubation duties.<ref name=BNA/> The chicks are partly covered with down at hatching, but are not capable of fending for themselves; they become capable of regulating their temperature at 9–12 days and are fully feathered in 13–21 days.<ref name=Hudson1974/> They begin to leave the nest and climb around at 2 weeks, fledge at 30 days and become independent at around the 45th day.<ref name=kushlan/>

The cattle egret engages in low levels of brood parasitism, and there are a few instances of cattle egret eggs being laid in the nests of snowy egrets and little blue herons, although these eggs seldom hatch.<ref name=BNA/> There is also evidence of low levels of intraspecific brood parasitism, with females laying eggs in the nests of other cattle egrets. As much as 30% extra-pair copulations have been noted.<ref name=Fujioka1981/><ref name=McKilligan1990/>

The dominant factor in nesting mortality is starvation. Sibling rivalry can be intense, and in South Africa third and fourth chicks inevitably starve.<ref name=kushlan/> In the dryer habitats with fewer amphibians the diet may lack sufficient vertebrate content and may cause bone abnormalities in growing chicks due to calcium deficiency.<ref name=Phalen/> In Barbados, nests were sometimes raided by vervet monkeys,<ref name=Krebs/> and a study in Florida reported the fish crow and black rat as other possible nest raiders. The same study attributed some nestling mortality to brown pelicans nesting in the vicinity, which accidentally, but frequently, dislodged nests or caused nestlings to fall.<ref name=Maxwell/>

==Feeding== The cattle egret feeds on a wide range of prey, particularly insects, especially grasshoppers, crickets, flies (adults and maggots<ref name=Seedikkoya2007/>), and moths, as well as spiders, frogs, and earthworms.<ref name=Siegfried1971/><ref name=Fogarty1973/> In a rare instance they have been observed foraging along the branches of a banyan tree for ripe figs.<ref name=Chaturvedi1993/> The species is usually found with cattle and other large grazing and browsing animals, and catches small creatures disturbed by the mammals. Studies have shown that cattle egret foraging success is much higher when foraging near a large animal than when feeding singly.<ref name=Grubb1976/> When foraging with cattle, it has been shown to be 3.6 times more successful in capturing prey than when foraging alone. Its performance is similar when it follows farm machinery, but it is forced to move more.<ref name=Dinsmore1973/> In urban situations cattle egrets have also been observed foraging in peculiar situations like railway lines.<ref name=Devasahayam2009/>

A cattle egret will weakly defend the area around a grazing animal against others of the same species, but if the area is swamped by egrets it will give up and continue foraging elsewhere. Where numerous large animals are present, cattle egrets selectively forage around species that move at around 5–15 steps per minute, avoiding faster and slower moving herds; in Africa, cattle egrets selectively forage behind plains zebras, waterbuck, blue wildebeest and Cape buffalo.<ref name=Burger1993/> Dominant birds feed nearest to the host, and obtain more food.<ref name=NMcKilligan/>

The cattle egret may also show versatility in its diet. On islands with seabird colonies, it will prey on the eggs and chicks of terns and other seabirds.<ref name=Lever/> During migration it has also been reported to eat exhausted migrating landbirds.<ref name=Cunningham1965/> Birds of the Seychelles race also indulge in some kleptoparasitism, chasing the chicks of sooty terns and forcing them to disgorge food.<ref name=Feare1975/>

==Relationship with humans== [[File:Bubulcus ibis Victoria 2.jpg|thumb|Western cattle egrets waiting for scraps at the fish market of Victoria, Seychelles]] A conspicuous species, the cattle egret has attracted many common names. These mostly relate to its habit of following cattle and other large animals, and it is known variously as cow crane, cow bird or cow heron, or even elephant bird or rhinoceros egret.<ref name=BNA/> Its Arabic name, {{Lang|ar-Latn|abu qerdan}}, means "father of ticks", a name derived from the huge number of parasites such as avian ticks found in its breeding colonies.<ref name=BNA/><ref name=WLM/>

The cattle egret is a popular bird with cattle ranchers for its perceived role as a biocontrol of cattle parasites such as ticks and flies.<ref name=BNA/> A study in Australia found that cattle egrets reduced the number of flies that bothered cattle by pecking them directly off the skin.<ref name=McKilligan1984/> It was the benefit to stock that prompted ranchers and the Hawaiian Board of Agriculture and Forestry to release the species in Hawaii.<ref name=Lever/><ref name=Berger1972/><ref name=Breese1959/>

Not all interactions between humans and cattle egrets are beneficial. The cattle egret can be a safety hazard to aircraft due to its habit of feeding in large groups in the grassy verges of airports,<ref name=Paton1986/> and it has been implicated in the spread of animal infections such as heartwater, infectious bursal disease<ref name=Fagbohun2000/> and possibly Newcastle disease.<ref name=APHIS/><ref name=Fagbohun1/>

==References==  <references> <ref name=APHIS>{{cite web |title=Heartwater |work=Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service |url=http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/content/printable_version/fs_ahheartw.pdf |publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture |access-date=13 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523073637/http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/content/printable_version/fs_ahheartw.pdf |archive-date=23 May 2006 }}</ref>

<ref name=Arendt1988>{{cite journal |last=Arendt |first=Wayne J. |year=1988 |title=Range Expansion of the Cattle Egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') in the Greater Caribbean Basin |journal=Colonial Waterbirds |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=252–262 |doi=10.2307/1521007 |publisher=Waterbird Society |jstor=1521007}}</ref>

<ref name=Barrett2008>{{cite news |first=Anne |last=Barrett |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/flying-in----to-make-new-friends-down-on-the-farm-1266360.html |title=Flying in ... to make new friends down on the farm |work=Irish Independent |date=15 January 2008}}</ref>

<ref name=BBC>{{cite news |title=First cattle egrets breed in UK |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7521476.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=24 July 2008 |date=23 July 2008}}</ref>

<ref name=Berger1972>{{cite book |last=Berger |first=A.J. |author-link=Andrew John Berger |title=Hawaiian Birdlife |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1972 |location=Honolulu |isbn=0-8248-0213-6}}</ref>

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<ref name=BNA>{{cite journal|last=Telfair II |first=Raymond C. |year=2006 |title=Cattle Egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') |editor-first=A. |editor-last=Poole |location=Ithaca |publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology |url=http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/113 |journal=The Birds of North America Online |doi=10.2173/bna.113 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517084700/http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/113 |archive-date=17 May 2008 |df=dmy |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

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<ref name=Breese1959>{{cite journal |last=Breese |first=P.L. |title=Information on Cattle Egret, a Bird New to Hawaii |journal=Elepaio |volume=20 |pages=33–34 |publisher=Hawaii Audubon Society |year=1959}}</ref>

<ref name=Burger1993>{{cite journal |last1=Burger |first1=J. |last2=Gochfeld |first2=M. |year=1993 |title=Making Foraging Decisions: Host Selection by Cattle Egrets ''Bubulcus ibis'' |journal=Ornis Scandinavica |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=229–236 |doi=10.2307/3676738 |jstor=3676738 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing}}</ref>

<ref name=Chaturvedi1993>{{cite journal |last=Chaturvedi |first=N. |year=1993 |title=Dietary of the cattle egret ''Bubulcus ibis coromandus'' (Boddaert) |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=90 |issue=1 |page=90}}</ref>

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<ref name=Cunningham1965>{{cite journal |last=Cunningham |first=R.L. |year=1965 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v082n03/p0502-p0503.pdf |title=Predation on birds by the Cattle Egret |journal=The Auk |volume=82 |pages=502–503 |doi=10.2307/4083130 |issue=3|jstor=4083130 }}</ref>

<ref name=Devasahayam2009>{{cite journal |last=Devasahayam |first=A. |year=2009 |title=Foraging behaviour of cattle egret in an unusual habitat |journal=Newsletter for Birdwatchers |volume=49 |issue=5 |page=78 |url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B3FJoJNii3LpYzI3MTczN2YtZGRlZi00ZmNhLWFhY2YtMDg4M2Q2YTUyNTgy&hl=en_US}}</ref>

<ref name=Dinsmore1973>{{cite journal |last=Dinsmore |first=James J. |year=1973 |title=Foraging Success of Cattle Egrets, ''Bubulcus ibis'' |journal=American Midland Naturalist |volume=89 |issue=1 |pages=242–246 |doi=10.2307/2424157 |publisher=The University of Notre Dame |jstor=2424157}}</ref>

<ref name=Dutson2007>{{cite journal |last1=Dutson |first1=G. |last2=Watling |first2=D. |year=2007 |title=Cattle egrets (''Bubulcus ibis'') and other vagrant birds in Fiji |journal=Notornis |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=54–55 |doi=10.63172/544476phrjfg |url=http://notornis.osnz.org.nz/system/files/Notornis_54_1_54.pdf |archive-date=2013-02-22 |access-date=2017-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222024321/http://notornis.osnz.org.nz/system/files/Notornis_54_1_54.pdf }}</ref>

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<ref name=Fagbohun2000>{{cite journal |last1=Fagbohun |first1=O.A. |last2=Owoade |first2=A.A. |last3=Oluwayelu |first3=D.O. |first4=F.O. |last4=Olayemi |journal=African Journal of Biomedical Research |volume=3 |issue=3 |year=2000 |title=Serological survey of infectious bursal disease virus antibodies in cattle egrets, pigeons and Nigerian laughing doves |url=http://www.bioline.org.br/request?md00053 |pages=191–192 |archive-date=2017-04-10 |access-date=2017-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410052336/http://www.bioline.org.br/request?md00053 }}</ref>

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<ref name=Fogarty1973>{{cite journal |first1=Michael J. |last1=Fogarty |last2=Hetrick |first2=Willa Mae |year=1973 |title=Summer Foods of Cattle Egrets in North Central Florida |journal=The Auk |url=http://sora.unm.edu/node/22357 |volume=90 |issue=2 |pages=268–280 |jstor=4084294}}</ref>

<ref name=Fujioka1981>{{cite journal |last1=Fujioka |first1=M. |last2=Yamagishi |first2=S. |year=1981 |title=Extra-marital and pair copulations in cattle egret |journal=The Auk |volume=98 |pages=134–144 |jstor=4085616 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/node/23509 |issue=1|doi=10.1093/auk/98.1.134 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

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<ref name=Grubb1976>{{cite journal |last=Grubb |first=T. |year=1976 |title=Adaptiveness of Foraging in the Cattle Egret |journal=Wilson Bulletin |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=145–148 |jstor=4160720 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/node/129260}}</ref>

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==External links== *{{cite web | last1=Blasco-Zumeta | first1=Javier | last2=Heinze | first2=Gerd-Michael | work=Identification Atlas of Aragon's Birds | title=Western cattle egret | url=http://blascozumeta.com/wp-content/uploads/aragon-birds/non-passeriformes/039.cattleegret-bibis.pdf | access-date=2018-06-01 | archive-date=2021-11-21 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121165218/http://blascozumeta.com/wp-content/uploads/aragon-birds/non-passeriformes/039.cattleegret-bibis.pdf }} *[https://thebdi.org/2024/02/19/western-cattle-egret-bubulcus-ibis/ Western cattle egret] Structured guide to the species in southern Africa

{{Taxonbar|from=Q30324004}} western cattle egret Category:Birds of Europe Category:Birds of Africa Category:Birds of the Americas western cattle egret western cattle egret Category:Fauna of the Galápagos Islands