Can you identify this bird?

Question

Can somebody please identify this bird for me?

I spotted this in July 2012 while birding in Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary.

unknown bird

A snowy egret that got "into" some fermented canteloupe, then slept it off. — Bob Stein, Aug 11 '14 at 13:20

Chris · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-11T09:11:06.143

15

This is a Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis), which is a heron in its breeding plumage. When not breeding, the bird is white. See the images for comparision:

enter image description here

Breeding cattle egret with colored feathers.

enter image description here

Nonbreeding cattle egret, completely white.

edited Aug 11 '14 at 09:11

answered Aug 11 '14 at 08:47

Chris

51,604
13
119
176

6

Just an addition, this is the bird's breeding plumage. Non-breeding individuals are just white. – Chinmay Kanchi Aug 11 '14 at 09:00
Good point, I added it to the answer. – Chris Aug 11 '14 at 09:11

Can you identify this bird?

1 Answers1